Second Chances
by Gabygoo
Summary: After the defeat of Majin Buu, Gohan is struggling to find his place in the world. His father is back, everyone at school knows his secret identity, and even Videl is acting strange. And now he's become involved in a mystery about stolen documents from Capsule Corp. But those documents are...blueprints for the Androids? This could get serious...
1. Prologue

**[AN: Hi, guys! This is my third fanfiction, and my first based off an original concept! This isn't a usual DBZ fanfic. It's a bit hard to categorise. I'd say it's partially slice-of-life, partially action and partially mystery.**

**If you want, go visit my previous fanfic, Only Human (Videl POV). There are some very minor differences in canon that were brought up in that story. One example being that Babidi didn't broadcast the battle between SSJ3 Goku and Fat Buu. So none of the people on Earth experienced Goku's explanation of what a Super Saiyan was. They're still relatively ignorant. (It may be very minor, but it's a detail I realise would have changed this story immensely.)**

**Also, if you want, my other short fanfic, Gohan and Videl watch the Cell Games, contains a few ideas that will be explored in greater detail in this story.**

**Now that the shameless plugs are out of the way, let's begin!]**

* * *

_2 months after the defeat of Majin Buu._

In the middle of Mt. Paozu, far away from major human civilisation, there was a small cottage. And, on the top floor, a teenage boy sat, studiously doing his homework.

He was tall, with a strong build that would make people think he played a lot of sport, although lacking the usual tan that befitted someone who spent a lot of time in the sun. His short black hair was carefully trimmed in a spiky cut that looked like it would have required liberal application of hair gel. But, at a closer glimpse, it was obvious that was his natural hair. He seemed to be a boy of contradictions – his build and the several martial arts posters that adorned his room suggested he was a fighter. And yet, his room was also filled with books of all varieties, and he was completing his homework with eagerness, seemingly unlike many boys who found their education a bore.

His name was Son Gohan, and he was the most powerful being in the universe.

Gohan didn't want to admit it, but he was finding his algebra homework surprisingly tough. This was probably the first time he'd had real difficulty with it. It was as if the teachers suddenly realised how far behind in the syllabus they had gotten because of Majin Buu, and now they were trying to hurry up without giving the students time to learn it properly.

Majin Buu. That pink monster had changed everything. And he had thought it was for the better. But now…he wasn't so sure.

There was one thing he had learnt. Saving the world was difficult. But, it was often the aftermath that could be even harder.

Gohan had first experienced it after the Cell Games. He had defeated Cell, but at a great cost – his father's life. As a child, Gohan would have rather fought a hundred Cells than have to deal with the pain of loss. You couldn't _fight_ grief. No matter how strong you were, it would remain with you, following you like a shadow wherever you went. It took him a…_very_ long time to recover from it. And even after that, he knew he wasn't the same boy who had fought Cell. It had changed him immensely.

So, over 7 years later, Gohan was surprised that he had that familiar feeling of emptiness, like he felt after Cell. But this time, his father was alive. Heck, his father was brought _back_ to life to fight Buu. There was no reason for him to mourn. In fact, he should have been delighted!

But that was part of the problem. The problem was that he had failed.

He failed to destroy Majin Buu, and he failed to truly take over from his father. He may have been more powerful than Son Goku, but that didn't mean anything in the end. Majin Buu absorbed Gotenks and Piccolo, Gohan started struggling, and his father had to return, _from the dead_, to…bail him out. Gohan had been so close…and yet, in the end, he didn't save anyone. Majin Buu was defeated, not by him, but by his father and Vegeta. Sure, he may have contributed to the Spirit Bomb, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that, in the end, he wasn't needed at all. That he was incompetent.

And, now that his father was alive again, it meant he was no longer his successor. He was no longer the premier defender of the Earth. It seemed like the only true successor to Son Goku was…Son Goku himself. No one else seemed to be able to do what his father could do. Gohan felt like he should have been glad. Now that Goku had returned, he was free to do whatever he wanted with his life. He could concentrate on school and become a scholar, like he always dreamed. But even school wasn't the distraction he had hoped.

Because everyone at school knew who he was.

Everyone knew he was the Great Saiyaman, and most people had worked out he was the Gold Fighter, although he never used that title anymore. Luckily, no one knew the extent of his power. They all assumed he was like Videl. But, even then, he hated it. He hated the attention. He hated how they treated him differently. That was the whole reason why he had disguised himself in the first place! Gohan was still kicking himself for transforming into a Super Saiyan in front of everyone at the Budokai. Sure, in the end, it was necessary. Someone had to be drained so they could find out where Majin Buu's cocoon was. He was the bait, even if he didn't know it at the time. But the repercussions of that…he hadn't thought about it. He had just snapped for one second and forgot about all the consequences.

He was so lucky he had Videl. She knew the truth about him, and she knew how important it was to him to keep things a secret. Gohan wished he had as much self-confidence as Videl did. She could just walk through the halls, not caring about anyone or anything. When he first met her, he thought it was reckless and stupid. Now, he'd learnt to appreciate it.

At 16, Gohan wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life. Was he a fighter, or a scholar? Was he ever meant to succeed his father? And what about school? He just felt so…lost. There were no clear answers to what he should do. And it seemed like no matter what he tried to do, he would never be good enough. Not without help.

And he didn't know what to do. After the Cell Games, everyone had protectively gathered around him, trying to help him deal with his loss. But now…he was 16. Almost an adult. The expectations were that he didn't have any problems to deal with. After all, now his potential had been released, he was the strongest being alive. What could he _possibly_ need help for?

He couldn't talk to anyone. He shouldn't. He was a man now, and he had to deal with this stuff himself. Someone like his father didn't have issues like this. And everyone still expected him to be like his father. He didn't want to disappoint them. Not again.

Gohan sighed, and finished his homework. He had been too preoccupied. He wasn't getting enough work done. Not to mention, he'd been subconsciously paying attention to his father and Goten's kis. They'd been fighting, and Gohan couldn't stop himself from keeping an eye on Goten. Even if they now had a father…it didn't stop a habit he'd been doing for 7 years.

What he really needed to do was to try and get that overwhelming feeling of failure out of his thoughts. But what could he do? Prove himself? He wanted to. He wanted to feel like he was in control again. But how?

* * *

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away…

The group nervously entered the enormous complex.

There were over a dozen of them: some old, some young, some rich and some poor. But they were all blown away by the sheer size of the building that they had just entered. Halls spiralled in all directions, and the main entrance was adorned with everything from fountains to intricately designed topiary bushes. Everyone gathered together, terrified to take the wrong turn. If they went the wrong direction…who _knew_ where they would end up?

And among the group of adults stood a single boy, his short brown hair cut short, his dark eyes shining in excitement. He stood out from all of them, both in height and in maturity. But he was just as eager and capable of the adults that towered over him, if not more.

Luckily, a woman was waiting for them at the entrance hall; a woman they all recognised. Her short blue hair had been done in a bob that made her look youthful, despite the fact she was now in her 30's.

She waved to all of them, and gestured them to stop in front of her. Everyone gathered around, all wanting to get a good glimpse of her.

"Hello, everyone," she said, her eyes bright with excitement. "And welcome to Capsule Corp. My name is Bulma, co-CEO and Head of Research and Development, but I'm sure you knew that already."

"You are all here for one reason: you have a passion for science and technology. You want to use your abilities to benefit us all. And if you were selected, you must be of a reasonable intellect."

"Of course, just being selected for this tour doesn't guarantee anything. If you're searching for a job, it will be difficult. Even those of you who strive to work in maintenance." She gave a meaningful glance to a smaller group off to the side, dressed a lot more casually.

"But if working for Capsule Corp is truly something you seek, it'll be good to see what you're getting yourself into. Over the next few hours, I, and my fellow associates, will give you a rare glimpse into the daily lives of our employees, and the inner working of our organisation."

She started walking. Everyone followed her eagerly. It looked like the tour was about to start.

Then she suddenly stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, turning around to face the newcomers once again. For some reason, she was starting to smile. "Before we begin...I'd like to go over some…disclaimers with you."

_Disclaimers?_ There was suddenly a lot of murmuring in the room.

Bulma continued, seemingly unaffected by the reaction her words had triggered.

"I do this tour every year, and each time I hear some new…rumour about this organisation. You shouldn't believe any of them. They're a load of rubbish. But, so you won't be disappointed, let me set the record straight."

She started talking in an overly formal voice. "Capsule Corp is _not_ planning to overthrow the government. Capsule Corp is not affiliated with any other businesses for illegal ends. Capsule Corp is not developing and/or harbouring any weapons of mass destruction. Well…unless you count my husband."

Everyone started to laugh. Even Bulma couldn't stop a smile from coming to her face. It was clear she had rehearsed that punchline.

The boy didn't fully understand the joke. But his friends always told him he 'had trouble understanding people'. Maybe this was what they were talking about. From what he could tell, the joke was about how...husbands were destructive? It sort of made sense. Perhaps it was just an adult joke.

"So, now that we've got that out of the way…let's begin."

And, as they walked, Bulma suddenly turned to him. He had picked a spot right next to her, eager to be the first one to see the facilities.

"Do you think I should make a scroll?" she asked.

The boy panicked, surprised Bulma was addressing him. "A scroll?" he asked, unsure of what she meant.

"Like, one of those old fashioned scrolls. I'd start reading from it, and the paper would drop down onto the floor, because there were so many different rumours to address. Do you think that would be funny?"

He considered it. Perhaps it would work well as a joke. "I guess. But why do you need it to be funny?"

Bulma smiled. "Look at you all," she exclaimed, gesturing to the nervous faces around her. "You're all so tense! A joke is the best way to make you more relaxed. No matter what you hear, at the end of the day, Capsule Corp is a family organisation. I want everyone to see that."

Bulma's words excited him. This was going to be a new beginning for him.

He was going to change the world!

**[AN: I'm just going to talk a bit about my interpretation of Gohan, because I feel like SOMEONE is going to be annoyed. In this story, Gohan is sticking to his canon personality. I feel like some people use Gohan as a self-insert, or as some sort of 'fantasy boyfriend'. In my opinion, Gohan is neither of those. He's not normal, and he's not perfect. If you want him to be the sort of character who is in total control all the time...you might not enjoy this. But, even if you don't like this version of him, I hope I make you think about his character a bit more. Who really IS Gohan?**

**Oh, and Gohan's 16. The manga clearly states he's 16. Even if it doesn't make sense with the timeline.]**


	2. A (not-so) Average School Day

**[AN: Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback! The first few chapters might be a little slow. But they're mostly building up context. Don't worry, the entire story isn't going to be like this.]**

Everything started when, one night, Gohan got a call from Bulma. Chi-Chi answered their home phone, and was talking to her for a while. Then, in a surprise, she gave the phone to him, saying Bulma wanted to speak to him.

"Hey, Gohan," Bulma started. "You haven't been at Capsule Corp lately, have you?"

"No," replied Gohan, puzzled. "Why?"

"Well, you see, some important documents have gone missing. I was wondering if you took them."

While she did her best to sound casual, Gohan couldn't help but notice a slight panicked tone to her voice.

"Um…no, I didn't." It seemed like a strange thing to ask him. He didn't have much to do with Capsule Corp. "Why did you ask me?"

Bulma paused. "How about you come over? I'll explain there."

* * *

Bulma pointed to her desk. "See, I was looking at the documents, and I left them on my desk. When I came back later, they were gone. I've asked all the staff, but none of them said they moved them."

"Um, Bulma?" asked Gohan, still a little confused. "What does this have to do with me?"

Bulma sighed, and took a deep breath. "The problem is – the documents that went missing…they're the blueprints for the Androids."

A bolt of panic went though him. "The Androids? You still have their blueprints?"

"Of course!" said Bulma, sounding a little guilty. "I know I should have destroyed them, but…they were scientific _genius._ Destroying them…it'd be like destroying a work of art."

"I didn't know you kept them. Why were they even on your desk in the first place?"

"I was looking at them," replied Bulma. "I was just curious. You see, the Androids were one of the few…_human_ technologies that could actually compete with you Saiyans. It made me wonder if there was a way we could defend ourselves without having to rely on aliens all the time. If something happens, and you guys aren't around…"

Her voice trailed off.

"…I don't know. I just don't want to feel like we're dependent on you Saiyans."

"But we don't know if we'll need to protect the Earth anymore," Gohan defended. "Now that Majin Buu is gone, maybe we'll be in peace."

Bulma laughed. "Goku's alive again, Gohan," she said. "Something is bound to happen."

That was one of the major consequences of Majin Buu's attack. His father was alive again. Gohan still remembered why Goku had remained dead. He believed he was a magnet for trouble. All the major threats to the Earth, from Piccolo onwards, were partially his fault. So, now that he was alive again, did that mean there would be more threats to peace? Would he attract more danger? More evil aliens? Mad scientists? Creatures of destruction? They would find out. It wasn't like Goku was going to die again anytime soon.

"So, anyway," Bulma interrupted his thoughts. "I was wondering if you could help me. You still do that Great Saiyaman thing, right?"

"Yeah." Of course, now he did it with Videl, as well.

"If you could tell the police to put out a report that some documents have been stolen…it might make things a lot easier. If they really are lost, then someone might have stolen them. I'm sure you understand how important it is that they don't get into the wrong hands."

"Of course!" But Gohan was confused. "But why do you need me to report it? Can't you do it yourself?"

Bulma looked a little guilty. "Capsule Corp hasn't had the best relationship with the authorities. What, with all of the unregistered stuff we've had to make over the years…I don't think they'd be happy if I told them we'd obtained blueprints for killer robots years ago and refused to hand them over."

That made him think. "Is that illegal?"

Bulma shook her head. "Not illegal, but it's definitely not endorsed. There's a reason they have patents for technology like this. They want to make sure people aren't abusing these new inventions, like Dr. Gero did."

"That makes sense." Gohan made a mental note to tell them the next time he was at the police station.

Bulma smiled. "Thanks, Gohan. This makes things a lot easier for me."

"You're welcome."

After that, he returned home, not thinking too much about it. He had school the next day, and…that would be something. Perhaps, next time there was a crime during school, he'd stop by the police station and tell them about it.

* * *

_The Next Day_

Gohan sighed as he walked up to the now-familiar gates to the school. He was still excited to be going back. He wanted to learn. But everything else…he didn't realise how difficult the social aspect was going to be.

Everyone at school knew he was the Great Saiyaman. Less people knew he was the Gold Fighter. The guys at the Budokai must have been terrible gossips. Gohan thought that Majin Buu would have made them forget that, but no. Apparently, people still cared. The first day of school after Majin Buu was defeated…that was tough. Almost _everyone_ had known about him the minute he walked through those doors. And those who didn't know had found out that day. Thank goodness Videl was there, her harsh glare seeking out everyone, as if she was saying, "You'd better not be judging my boyfriend! I dare you! Do it, and see what the consequences are!"

Luckily, only a few people had put 2 and 2 together and realised he was the little boy from the Cell Games. Videl had told him the best thing to do was to act nonchalant about it. "Just be like 'oh, yeah. I was that kid'," she had said. "If you act like it was no big deal, they won't think too much about it." And she was right. No one had worked out he was one who actually beat Cell. If people asked him about the Cell Games, he just gave what was now the practiced lie that he had watched Mr. Satan defeat him. So far, it had worked to keep his feats a secret.

Only Videl, Erasa and Sharpener knew who he really was – what he was. If he had his way, Erasa and Sharpener wouldn't have known at all. But Videl had explained she couldn't keep a secret like this from her closest friends. They would have figured out she was lying to them, and she promised they wouldn't tell anyone. So, with his doubts, she had told them the truth about him. And, surprisingly, it had turned out alright. Erasa and Sharpener didn't have the endless curiosity Videl had. They just accepted "Gohan's a half-alien", and didn't ask many questions about it. Even Sharpener. When they first met, Gohan was sure he was going to be one of those bully-types like the villains in books he'd read. But it turns out he was a lot nicer than he expected.

So, today, as he walked in to the school, the gazes of the other students seemed to follow him as he went past. People stopped their conversations, and Gohan could feel their eyes watching him. Even if, by some unlikely chance, they didn't know he was a superhero, he was dating Videl. There was no escaping the attention, and he hated it. The whole point in going to high school was to try and experience normal, human life. It looked like that wasn't going to happen anymore.

How hard was it to just accept him for who he was? Didn't they realise how uncomfortable it made him felt, having the feeling that everyone was watching you, judging you, no matter what you did? He just wished people would treat him like they treated everyone else. But, after almost 2 months at school, it seemed like that was never going to happen. It looked like this was going to be the norm.

Luckily, Videl was waiting at her locker.

"Hey!" she called. "I missed you."

"It was only the weekend," he said. "Am I supposed to hang out with you every day?"

"Of course not," she scoffed. "Anyway, what have you been up to?"

"Not much," he answered. The weekend was pretty uneventful. "It's been interesting at home, though. I didn't think about how different things are now that Goten can go Super Saiyan. I think he's in that phase where kids think they're invincible."

Videl rolled her eyes. "What did he do?"

"Nothing yet. It's just that…when it happened to me, I had something to teach me not to go in over my head. Goten doesn't have that yet."

"What about your dad? Shouldn't he be helping?"

He smiled at the mention of Goku. It was such a thrill, having his father back. "I think Dad is just more impressed that Goten can transform in the first place. And he didn't need emotional trauma, either. He's truly amazing."

She squeezed his shoulder. "Not as amazing as you."

A voice behind them interrupted.

"Egh, spare me the lovebirds."

It was Sharpener.

"You're just jealous," said Videl.

"Jealous. Sure," He scoffed as he leaned up against the lockers. "Anyway, can you guys start speaking in English? I have _no_ idea what you were talking about."

Gohan sighed. "Right. Of course. I'm sorry." He needed to stop doing that. It was great having someone to talk to, but he couldn't start blabbering on about Saiyans all the time. Only Videl really understood it. _It's so difficult! _He thought. _I thought I'd gotten the hang of this by now, but it's still hard to fit in._

They got their books before the bell rang for class.

* * *

Gohan felt like his assertions were right. The teachers _were_ going through their material faster than usual. He barely had time to relax in class. There was no time to stop if he wanted to get all his notes down. Dimly, he wished he could have used his speed to be able to write faster. But after some experimentation and many broken pencils, he had decided to give up trying it. It just didn't work.

A few hours later, they finally had maths class. Everyone went in, a little nervously. And when the teacher asked if they had any problems with their homework, Gohan raised his hand.

The teacher's eyes met his, a little surprised. "Yes, Gohan?"

"I-I wasn't sure how to do question 14," he answered. "I was trying to do it at home, but I couldn't get the right answer."

Suddenly, he was aware everyone in the class was looking at him in shock and disbelief. Even Videl was a little surprised.

"It's not that weird!" he exclaimed, trying to defend itself.

"I thought you knew everything," said Compass, a large boy who seemed to be permanently glued to the back row in every class. Compass was one of the most outspoken students in his class. If anyone was going to speak his mind, it would be him.

Gohan frowned. Why did people always assume that? He almost wished people didn't have such a high expectation of him. Seeing those looks of astonishment…it was like he had let everyone down.

"I don't know _everything_," he said. Couldn't they give it a rest?

But that just caused more murmuring amongst the class. Gohan buried his head in his books, waiting for it to stop. They couldn't keep talking about him forever.

"Settle down, everyone!" The teacher raised her voice, and the students stopped talking immediately. Dimly, Gohan was impressed by how much respect the teachers had over the class.

"Just so you know, anyone can have trouble with their work. Something you find easy might be hard for another student to grasp. Even those who you assume know everything-" Her eyes moved to Gohan, "-might still have issues. That's why it's so important to tell me if you don't understand an exercise. You might not be the only one who's having difficulty."

Just then, Videl's watch started beeping. Gohan's mood lifted. That meant there was a crime on! They could go stop it!

A reprieve from everyone's gazes was definitely welcome. He'd ask for the answer to the question later. Maybe at lunchtime, which was after this. The teachers were in their offices during lunchtime, right?

Immediately, the two of them stood up and started packing their stuff away.

"Hold on!" exclaimed the teacher. She looked at Gohan. "You're going, too?"

Gohan had forgotten not everyone knew about that. "I have a permission slip," he explained. "I gave it to the principal."

Videl had convinced him to do it. After all, if everyone knew he was the Great Saiyaman…there was no point in keeping it a secret anymore. And now that Mr. Satan knew about him, getting permission to leave class to stop crime was quite simple.

Even if his achievements were based on lies, knowing the so-called saviour of the Earth had a lot of benefits.

And so, they both left the class to stop the crime. Videl had the co-ordinates. She pointed in the direction of the crime, and they flew off together.

* * *

They'd been flying for a few minutes when Videl noticed something. "Gohan?" she asked. "You're not in your Saiyaman outfit."

"…what? Oh, yeah." He had done that on purpose.

"There's no point in doing it alone," he explained to her. "It's going to look weird if I'm in costume and you're not."

A few weeks ago, Videl decided if _he _was going to fight crime as a costumed superhero, she was going to do it with him. "I'm not letting you embarrass yourself on your own," she had said.

He still didn't see what was so embarrassing about it. He was living any comic book fan's dream come true right now.

"How's your costume going?" he asked. He knew she was still working out the details.

"It's mostly done," she said. "I just need to work out the right colour scheme. Unlike you, I actually care about what I look like."

He frowned. "Hey, if I wanted to change my outfit, I would. But I like it."

She rolled her eyes. "But..." she paused. "I've been having second thoughts about it. Won't it be weird, doing it together? I mean, you're a lot stronger than me."

Gohan knew how much admitting that meant to her.

"It's not that weird, is it?" he said, thinking about normal superhero teams. "If you're…like…my sidekick, or something, it would make sense I'm stronger."

"I'm not your sidekick!" snapped Videl, a little harshly.

Gohan looked at her. "Is something wrong?" he asked. He didn't know what was going on.

Videl turned away from him. "It's fine," she said. "I'm fine."

Somehow, he didn't fully believe her. But they were almost at their destination, given by the police.

* * *

As they landed, they saw the two criminals, studying the riches they had gotten from their recent bank robbery. They seemed too preoccupied with counting the banknotes to even notice their arrival.

"You're under arrest!" Videl called.

Hearing that, they scampered, with Gohan and Videl following close behind them. It seemed like they had taken the criminals by surprise. They didn't even have time to split up.

"We've got to keep up the pace," said Videl, easily taking control of the situation. "As soon as they get worn out, we'll get them."

_I could get them now, though,_ he thought. But it would probably be easier to do it in a less-crowded area. The criminals were pushing people away to make room for themselves to keep running. And they had weapons.

So they kept up the pursuit, Videl starting to get a little fatigued. But, even then, the criminals couldn't keep running for much longer. And as they followed them away from the crowded streets into the alleyways, the criminals suddenly stopped. They had reached a dead end.

Perfect! They could confront both of them, easily.

Now it was time to get serious. Gohan slowly approached them, waiting for Videl to come up behind him. She had been a little behind the pace.

"Like we said, you're under arrest," said Gohan.

"Drop the weapons now," added Videl.

The two men looked at the teenagers with a mixture of shock and…strangely…amusement.

"It's Mr. Satan's girl!" exclaimed one of them. "And…"

He stared at Gohan.

"…Some other kid."

_They don't recognise me? _Gohan was initially confused, but then he remembered. _Oh, right. I'm not wearing my costume._ It meant he didn't have a reputation. They might underestimate him. And that was both good and bad. Good for him, bad for them.

"Listen, we don't have to fight," Gohan explained. "If you surrender now, I promise we won't hurt you."

He had noticed that, a lot of the time, as soon as the criminals saw what he was capable of, they immediately surrendered. If he could stop them without having to fight…it would be more convenient for both parties. What was it called? The path of least resistance, that was it.

The shorter of the two looked at him in amusement. "And you think we'll fall for that? You're just a bunch of kids. I don't care who your parents are."

"It's not our parents you should be worried about," said Videl.

The other one took out a gun. "I'd suggest you stay back, unless you want me to shoot."

Gohan smirked. "Go ahead."

He took a step towards them.

Surprised, the man fired at him.

And Gohan effortlessly caught it. He crushed it and let it drop to the ground.

"Do you want to try again? Maybe you weren't giving it your all?"

Gohan didn't normally use sarcasm. But it was entertaining to use it in a situation like this. He didn't have to keep up a superhero persona if he wasn't in costume.

"No way," one of the men cried. "I am _not_ going back to jail again!"

Panicking, he rushed at Gohan.

_That was their first mistake._

He kicked him, and the criminal went flying into the wall, instantly being knocked out by the impact. The other man looked in shock, before he went after Gohan, too. And then he was slumped, unconscious, on the floor, just as quickly as the first one.

_There. That's everything._ He smiled. _A job well done._

When he looked back, he saw Videl staring at him in amazement.

"This is so easy for you," she said.

He shrugged. "I guess so. You know I've faced a _lot_ worse. Guys like this couldn't hurt me if they tried."

There was a strange expression on her face. Something like…longing.

Videl then restrained them and communicated the police. "We've got them. You can come over."

"So, what now?" he asked her. "Just wait for the police to come?"

"That's what I normally do," she answered. "You can't just leave them there alone, even if they _are_ handcuffed."

_Right_, he thought. _That makes sense._

He'd never thought about that. You never saw superheroes co-operate with the authorities. They normally just stopped a crime and flew off. That was what he had been doing before. But now that he thought about it, it had been a little irresponsible. It was like he had been running away.

He didn't know if it was Videl's presence, or the fact that he wasn't disguised for once, but he had learnt a lot about being a superhero today.

They dragged the criminals out of the alleyway and onto the footpath. The police was going to arrive by the road. All they had to do was wait for them.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, Gohan heard the police sirens. "I think they're here."

There was only one police car. Rather small, but with a high rear made for transportation of objects…and for humans.

A man stepped out of the car, examining the scene of the crime. He looked to be in his late-20's, with rather long, sandy-brown hair and a relaxed expression. His blue police uniform was a little dirty, but the badge was polished to perfection.

Videl's eyes lit up in recognition upon seeing him.

"Bayonet! Hey!"

_Bayonet? That's a weird name._

Bayonet saw her. "Well, if it isn't Little Satan!" he exclaimed, breaking into a smile. "Busy catching criminals?"

"Yup." Videl said, proudly.

Gohan felt a little awkward. Who was this person? And Videl knew him?

Bayonet suddenly noticed his presence. "Who's the new guy?"

"Oh, right!" Videl gave her introductions. "Gohan, this is Bayonet. He's one of the guys in the police force. I guess you could say he's my closest friend there. Bayonet, this is Gohan, my boyfriend."

He had a little rush when she said that. _My boyfriend._

Bayonet laughed. "So, you finally got with someone?" he asked Videl, "That's cool. How did you get your father to agree with that?"

Videl broke into her familiar smirk. "Well, when the world was almost destroyed, you'd kind of agree to anything."

Bayonet sighed. "You mean that Majin Buu business? We're still dealing with the aftermath of that."

_Technically, the world _was _destroyed_, Gohan thought_. It was just brought back with the Dragon Balls. _But he wasn't going to say that out loud. Especially not in front of a stranger.

Bayonet immediately started helping Gohan with loading the criminals into the police van. As soon as they were out of Videl's presence, the police officer started talking to him in a hushed voice.

"So, did Videl force you into this?" he asked. "It's pretty rough."

"What? No!" exclaimed Gohan. "I _wanted_ to help her! I was doing it on my own before I even met her!"

"Wait…" Bayonet frowned, in thought. "Are you that other superhero kid? That…what was it? Saiaman or something?"

"The Great Saiyaman," Gohan corrected automatically. "And, yes. I am."

"Huh." Then the officer chuckled. "Of course Videl would go out with the only other vigilante her age."

"Would you believe me if I said that wasn't the reason why we're dating?" said Videl, coming up behind them.

Bayonet turned around. Clearly, he wasn't expecting Videl to hear him. But, after pondering about it, he decided it wasn't much of a secret.

"Well, as long as you guys are happy," he said.

He shut the door to the police car.

"Now, once I get these guys to the station, I'm going to go and sign the paperwork for this stuff. Unless you want to help me?"

"Paperwork?" Gohan was intrigued. "I didn't know you had to do that!"

Bayonet smiled. "Well, you're not doing this as a job. We have to document every crime that happens, and that includes the ones you guys stop."

Suddenly, Gohan felt guilty. He never thought about that. He was just giving them extra work by leaving as soon as the crime was over!

"I'll help, then!" he decided. He checked his watch. "It's lunchtime, anyway, so we're not missing any more classes."

While he _was_ getting a little hungry, he felt responsible for this. It was his fault Bayonet had extra work, after all. And besides, he wanted to see the police station up-close.

* * *

Bayonet offered them a lift in his car, which they took gladly. It would be quicker to fly, sure. But he was offering it. There was no reason to decline his help.

As they drove, Bayonet kept up a constant chatter.

"Crime rates have really picked up lately," he said. "You'd think the Majin Buu stuff would have made rates go down, but that hasn't been the case. The problem was, being faced with what was pretty much the apocalypse can bring out the worst in people. When your life is in danger, human nature makes people care more about self-survival. That kind of selfishness was practically encouraged during those few days…"

Almost involuntarily, Bayonet shuddered, clearly reminiscing.

"It's true," agreed Videl. "My dad told me about it. There was this guy who tried to shoot him."

"Really?" Bayonet was astonished. "The saviour of the world, and someone tried to attack him? This is what I mean. Having your life in peril makes everyone fend for themselves."

He continued. "On the bright side, organised crime has gone down a bit. I'm not a psychologist, but I'm guessing everyone was so happy that they were still alive…it might have given them belief again. Maybe people decided that those events were a sign for them to change."

Videl summarised it nicely. "So, basically, crime has gone up _and_ down?"

"Pretty much," replied Bayonet. "Either way, a policeman's job is never done."

And then he stopped the car. They had arrived.

* * *

The police station was a bustle of activity. Employees were typing on computers, exchanging documents, talking on the phone, and talking to each other. Some people seemed to be on their lunch break, but there was still plenty of work going on from officer to officer. It seemed like the station was a place that never truly rested.

After handing the handcuffed criminals over to another section of the station, Bayonet went over to his desk and started filling in a file on the crime.

"Can I help?" Gohan asked.

Bayonet gave him some of the paperwork once he had finished filling it out, explaining where to place each individual document. Some were placed in heavy-looking folders, and others were simply placed on piles on their different desks. Gohan followed Bayonet's instructions eagerly.

"I'm sorry I'm causing all this work," he apologised. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried; there was always some negative consequence to what he did.

"What? Don't be ridiculous!" exclaimed Bayonet. "If it wasn't for you guys, a lot of people could have been hurt. That's more important than a little extra filing."

Suddenly, Gohan remembered what he had promised Bulma.

"Um…Bayonet?" he asked.

Bayonet looked up from his files. "What is it?"

"Well…" Gohan knew he had to word this carefully. He didn't want to make the police suspicious. "I have a…family friend, at Capsule Corp. She wanted to…make a report, about some documents going missing? They're quite important."

Bayonet frowned. "Why didn't she report it herself?"

"Um…" Gohan stammered. Then he came up with a solution. "She knew I would see the police soon. She thought it would be better to warn them in person."

"Sure, I guess. I'll note it down."

He wrote a note in one of the many books on his desk. But it didn't look like it was such a significant book. He wasn't telling anyone else.

Gohan was silently screaming, _this is really important! There are Androids in those blueprints!_ But he couldn't make a big deal out of it. If he did, Bayonet might be suspicious. And Bulma didn't want them investigating the full details. It was so frustrating!

Bayonet seemed curious. "So, you know guys at Capsule Corp? How does it feel to know a part of an evil corporation?"

"An evil corporation?" Gohan was confused.

Bayonet waved it off. "It's just a joke we make here. I mean, it's a family-run business that's amongst the richest in the world, with an almost pure monopoly on the storage and transportation sectors…I'd be more surprised if there _weren't_ secret conspiracies."

"It's not like that!" he said, trying to defend them. He knew Bulma well, and she definitely wasn't evil.

"What, no skeletons in the closet?" asked Bayonet, jokingly.

"I don't think so," said Gohan.

Their family wasn't that strange. Well, unless you counted Vegeta.

And then realisation hit him. _In a way, Capsule Corp does have a conspiracy. It's us._

Bayonet started putting his files away. "That's all I really need to do. Thanks for the help, by the way."

"Right. I guess I might see you around?"

"If you're still doing your 'superhero business', most likely. See you then."

And, with that, Gohan left the police building.

* * *

Videl was waiting outside.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go. We still have about 30 minutes of lunch left."

She didn't seem to be in the best mood, but Gohan didn't think too much about it. Girls just got like that, didn't they? All emotional and moody for no reason…

As they flew off, Gohan took one last look at the police building, wondering if he was going to see it a lot more often from now on. Bayonet seemed like a nice guy. At the very least, he was the first police officer Gohan had met that hadn't seemed incompetent. Perhaps he was still weak, but he didn't give the impression that he was ignorant. He seemed to fully understand who Gohan was. And despite that, or perhaps because of it, Bayonet actually treated him like an equal. It was definitely…refreshing.

_Continued in Part 2..._

**[AN: I'm not entirely sure what to do about chapter lengths. I have some really short chapters, and some really long chapters. I just don't want things to drag on too much. That's why this chapter is split up.**

**Also, about Bayonet - yes, his name is a pun. I've decided if I introduce more named police officers, they're all going to be named after different types of weapons. Because everyone in Dragon Ball has a pun as a name. Everyone.]**


	3. A (not-so) Average School Day - Part 2

_Continued from Part 1..._

Once they arrived back at school, the rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Now that school days were becoming a routine, Gohan was finding it strange how one day could mesh into another so easily. He had assumed every day would be unique, which wasn't the case. You didn't necessarily learn something new in every class. Oftentimes, you just learnt how to apply the knowledge you had learnt previously. It was quite different from home schooling, that was for sure.

So, in what felt like no time at all, school was over, and he was flying home. He was so glad he could fly on his own, now. He didn't have to worry about people recognising him. And he was _so_ much faster than Kinto'un.

When he arrived home, he saw Goten, running around outside the house. His little brother had been busy catching bugs. With his speed…the net was full to the brim with struggling insects, many of which were escaping even while Gohan was watching.

"Gohan!" his brother cried. "Hi! How was school?"

He shrugged. "It was…it was alright." He had stopped a crime, and gotten the answer to a homework question that had been bugging him – the usual. The only thing that was strange was Videl. She didn't seem to be her usual charismatic self that day. Perhaps she was just feeling a little under-the-weather.

"Wanna play?" asked Goten.

Gohan smiled. "Sure. After I finish my homework, alright? I'll call you."

After all, if he wanted to make sure he knew how to answer those algebra questions, he had to practice with questions similar to it. It was like…it was like training, except for your brain. And you didn't feel as exhausted when you were finished with it. And you could actually test yourself without worrying that you would destroy the planet.

Actually, now that he thought about it, it was nothing like training.

So, after greeting his parents, he went to his room and started on those exercises. And then, just to make sure he wasn't behind, he went over the textbook passages for some of the information he'd learnt that day. And he read another chapter for the book they were meant to read for literature.

It didn't hurt to be prepared. And every new piece of knowledge was like a miracle for him. He was _learning_ something! Not just random knowledge, but information that could actually _help_ him with the rest of his life! At school, no one really cared about the martial arts moves he had memorised. And _no one_ could talk to him about the benefits and drawbacks of the different levels of Super Saiyan. But geography? _That_ people could relate to.

But he had promised he would play with Goten, so he finished relatively early, eager to play before it got dark. When you had two half-Saiyans, playing outside was a necessity. It wasn't like they were _banned_ from playing in the house. But everyone knew if they did, it would only end in _something_ being destroyed. Like…the roof. And that wouldn't benefit anyone.

"Goten!" he called. "I've finished my homework!"

And, like a flash, Goten bounded up to his room. The gust of wind caused by his sudden arrival caused the papers on his desk to start flying everywhere. That was the problem when you went too fast. Sighing, Gohan quickly raced around, catching all of them before they could fall, and placing them back on a neat pile.

"Sorry, Gohan," Goten apologised.

"It's OK. You were just excited."

* * *

Once they were outside, a safe distance from the house, Gohan asked his little brother, "So, what do you want to do?"

"Can we have a race?" asked Goten, eagerly. "I want to see if I can beat you!"

Gohan smiled. "You know I'm faster than you."

"But I'm getting _better_! I know I am!"

And, as if it was as easy as breathing, his brother transformed into a Super Saiyan.

The first time Gohan had seen it, he was shocked beyond all belief. Now, he'd learnt to accept it as part of their everyday life. Part of him wanted to demand Goten treat the transformation with a little more…_respect_. It made the sacrifices that he and his father and Vegeta had made in order to transform feel less important. But Goten was still 7. Gohan doubted he would understand. It was easy for him, and that's why he did it.

But, even then, Goten was nowhere near as strong as him.

Gohan took a deep breath, and released his full power.

Almost unwillingly, Gohan grinned. There was no way to argue against it – knowing that you were the strongest person in the entire universe…it felt amazing. He had had it for 2 months, and yet he still had that rush of euphoria every time he used it, every time he could _feel_ what he was capable of.

If he ever died again, he had to go back to give his thanks to the Elder Kai, despite his perverted nature. Now that his potential was unlocked…everything was just easier. His power felt a lot more…natural. Like it was an extension of himself. Going Super Saiyan always felt like it happened against your will. It was an explosion of emotion. At the beginning, the way he transformed was to try and recreate the conditions in his head, to try and get angry again. But his power now? It wasn't like that at all. He could access it whenever he wanted, and it didn't make him angry. He was in complete control, and it was incredible.

It wasn't even overwhelming. When he was sitting in the Kai's planet, waiting for the ritual to be complete, he had been worried about that. The last time he had unlocked his true power, it had taken control of him. It had turned him into a monster. What if that happened a second time?

But that wasn't the case. The ritual had been going for hours, and Gohan had just about lost his patience. He had gotten angry, yelling at the Elder Kai to stop wasting everyone's time, before he suddenly realised everything was shaking.

_What's going on?_ He had thought. _Is that…_

_Is that me?_

And then, with a shock, he had realised it _was_ him.

It was in that moment that he fully understood the raw power running through him. To do all that, and not even notice it!

It was a feeling that not much else could emulate.

And, to make things even better, he recently realised he could still go Super Saiyan! He had been practicing, and he'd finally figured out how to do it again! It was just a lot more difficult, and sort of counter-intuitive. But, still, the fact that the legendary transformation of the Saiyan race wasn't completely cut-off to him was still amazing.

"Race around the Earth?" suggested Goten.

"Sure," Gohan agreed.

They started in the air. These races had become a frequent feature of their training. In terms of fighting, his father was better at training Goten. He was older, and more experienced. But Goten couldn't deny his big brother's power. And that was what these races had become.

"3…2…1…Go!"

From the start, Gohan was faster. He was always faster. But the difference was now he barely even had to _try_ to outrun, or rather, outfly, him. It was in these moments where he could just close his eyes, and not worry about anything else. All he had to do was concentrate on his own power. It was in these moments where he was in complete control.

But Goten didn't want to give up. Judging by the movement of his ki, he was still trying, going the fastest he could. And while he was fast, he was nowhere near Gohan's level.

So Gohan decided to slow down a bit to give his brother some time to catch up. And when Goten was within visible range, Gohan sped up, trying to encourage him. Whenever his brother caught sight of him, he seemed even more determined to catch up. Gohan couldn't deny Goten's determination, even if it _was_ fruitless in the end.

They finished the race in about 10 minutes. When they were getting close to their starting point, Gohan simply relaxed, and flew as fast as he could, outstripping Goten easily. He arrived back where they started and waited for Goten to catch up. It would take a while. Gohan sat down on the grass, smiling. Perhaps it wasn't the fairest to race Goten. There was no denying who was stronger. But, then again, Goten had asked for it.

Goten arrived a few minutes after him. He fell to the ground, panting.

"You're so _strong_, Gohan!" he breathed. "You weren't even going your fastest! I can tell!"

"Well, I am the big brother," replied Gohan. "It's my job to be the strongest."

Their race hadn't taken that long. "Do you want to spar?" Gohan asked. That was what they normally did.

But this time, Goten had a rather different reaction. He wasn't jumping around in eagerness. In fact…he didn't look at all eager. He just looked bored.

"Why?" he asked.

"You don't want to?" Gohan was puzzled.

"Well, I don't need to anymore," replied Goten, matter-of-factly. "If I fuse with Trunks, Gotenks is way stronger than I am. And he can beat everyone."

That made Gohan pause. His brother had a point. But…the way he was dismissing it was rubbing Gohan the wrong way.

Goten smiled. "So I don't need to train, do I? We're already the strongest!"

Gohan suddenly realised that the power might have started to get to his brother's head. And that was _definitely_ a bad thing. Whenever the power went to _his_ head, someone died. Whether it was his father, or himself…it had happened twice, and it always had disastrous consequences. Goten may not have been him, but it didn't stop him from panicking about it. It was just big brother instinct.

"Goten…" Gohan murmured.

The young Saiyan turned to face him, the cheerful expression still on his face.

"You can't just rely on being able to fuse all the time. What if Trunks isn't there?"

"Why wouldn't Trunks be there?" replied Goten, cheerily. "We hang out all the time. And I could just find his ki and get to him. You saw how fast I was!"

He made a good point.

"But…there are problems where it doesn't matter how strong you are."

Goten stared at him, his eyes wide in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well…just because you're strong, doesn't mean everything's going to be OK. You can be the strongest being in the universe and you can still…"

He stopped.

_…you can still fail. Like I have._

But Gohan didn't say it out loud. Goten wouldn't understand that, would he? And besides, he was the big brother. He had to act like it. He had to act like he had all the solutions.

"…there are still things that you can't do."

Goten didn't look like he understood.

"Like what?"

"Like…" Gohan racked his brains, trying to think of a way to explain it. "Like…adult stuff," he decided.

Goten pouted. "But I'm not an adult!" he protested. "And what about Daddy? He can do everything."

That comment made Gohan smile.

"Not everything," he told his brother. "Father may be strong, but he's not perfect. He's…"

It was always hard to explain Goku. There was no one quite like him. And, even though he had been dead for the past 7 years, when he came back, he seemed like exactly the same person that Gohan remembered. Bulma used to tell him that Goku just never grew up like everyone else did. Not because there was something wrong with him, but because there was no _need_ to. He didn't care about trying to be part of normal life. He would be just happy living on his own, training all day. And, honestly, who could argue with it? If Goku had attempted to be normal, it was likely the Earth wouldn't be around.

"He's our father."

But it looked like the explanation had gone right over Goten's head.

"Can we play now?" he asked, getting impatient.

Clearly, Goten wanted to end this conversation. There was no point in arguing. His brother obviously didn't understand.

* * *

Once their playtime was over, as Gohan went up to his room, he sighed. He felt so…responsible for Goten's behaviour. He needed to understand! But what could he say? Goten had every reason to be overconfident. He hadn't seen failure in the way Gohan had. He hadn't seen his father die in front of him. He never had to desperately stop a monster from destroying the planet, his own strength the only thing able to prevent complete annihilation.

Or, maybe he had. He _had_ been forced to fight Majin Buu. But being fused with Trunks had made it different somehow. It was like a game to them. They hadn't seen the consequences. They hadn't _felt_ the consequences. Together, they had shared the burden of being humanity's last hope. But, as a result, it seemed like they were left with almost too _little_ burden. And if they didn't learn that lesson soon…Gohan had a feeling something bad could happen. His brother was already strong enough, even without fusing. He needed to understand that he wasn't invincible. No matter how powerful he was, he couldn't afford to be reckless.

Perhaps the best thing to do was to talk to Trunks about it. While Gohan didn't want to say Trunks was a bad influence…his brother definitely listened to what Vegeta's son said. If Goten couldn't understand, maybe Trunks would.

He'd have to add that to the list of things he had to do. Along with homework, and trying to convince the police to look into that Android situation.

…with school, Gohan's life had suddenly gotten a whole lot busier.


	4. Visit to Capsule Corp

The next day at school, Gohan cornered Videl.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked. "You were acting strange yesterday."

"What…" Videl tried to think back.

"No, of course I'm OK!" she exclaimed, brushing it off. "It was just…it was nothing. I was being stupid."

"Oh, cool."

At least that was out of the way. But, for some reason, Gohan couldn't shake off the feeling that Videl was still acting differently. She seemed a lot more…cynical? She definitely felt more withdrawn than usual. But she had said that she was all right. There was no point questioning her even more. Even _he_ knew that would be acting way too intrusive.

* * *

Anyway, he had more important things to think about. So, once school was over, Gohan decided to visit the Briefs' compound to visit Trunks. He often played with him like an older brother. The kid seemed to be a bit lonely a lot of the time. Company was always appreciated in that household.

He went to the front gate and rang the buzzer. It was only a few seconds before he heard a female voice coming through the intercom.

"Gohan!" They exclaimed. It was Bulma. "Just the guy I wanted to see."

For a second, Gohan was puzzled. Bulma couldn't sense ki. "How did you know it was me?"

Bulma laughed. "The camera. Look above you."

And, sure enough, there was a camera pointing at him.

"Oh, right…" That got him a little embarrassed. He always seemed to forget about that.

Bulma unlocked the front door for him. "Come by my office," she said over the intercom. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Well, actually…I was here to visit Trunks…"

"Come here first," said Bulma, sternly. "This is important."

She could be very forceful when she wanted to. Gohan sighed, and went over to her office.

* * *

"You wanted to talk to me?"

Bulma was busy looking over a bunch of papers when she saw him. Her face lit up.

"Glad you came! I wanted to talk to you about the robbery. You know…"

She looked around, as if scared someone was watching.

"The Androids?" she whispered.

That jogged his memory. "Oh, of course," he replied eagerly. "I told the police about it, like you said. I didn't tell them there were Androids, though, so I don't think they took it seriously."

She waved her hand in dismissal. "Never mind the police! I think I found our culprit, all by myself."

In dramatic fashion, Bulma picked up a remote control, and turned on one of the small television screens placed on the wall. It started showing what looked like the corridor directly outside her office.

"CCTV cameras," she explained. "There aren't any in my office, so I thought I was out of luck. But it turns out we have one monitoring the adjacent hall. Anyway, I was looking through the archived footage, and I found…this!"

She played the security footage. It showed a short scene of the hallway. The hall was empty. Suddenly, a boy could be seen coming out in the direction of Bulma's office. He seemed to be around Gohan's age, with close-cropped dark hair. He was dressed very formally. The boy looked around, checking to see if anyone saw him, and quickly darted away.

"Do you think that's the guy who stole them?" Gohan asked.

Bulma nodded. "Almost positive. I've been looking at it closely, and it seems like he has something in that bag of his. The blueprints could have fit in there."

"But do you even know who he is?"

She frowned. "I just worked it out today. And I think it might be a problem."

Bulma picked up the paper she was reading beforehand and gave it to him. It was some sort of…resume? The mugshot of the boy stared out at him from a small photograph, surrounded by text of what seemed to be his achievements.

Bulma started explaining. "Maestro. Age 16. He was part of a group tour of the Capsule Corp facilities. We often give them to people looking to apply for jobs here."

Something seemed strange about that. "He's 16? And he's already looking for a job here? Isn't that a bit…young?"

"Well, he could have been applying for cleaning staff, but he's not. From what I can tell, he seems to be a bit of a child prodigy. Graduated college last year. At 15."

Gohan whistled in amazement. "He must be _really_ smart."

"His college recommended him to us. Said he had a talent that could be useful here. That's why he was on the tour with everyone else."

"And he took the blueprints while he was there? How did he even know about them?"

Bulma sighed. "I don't know. I've got a feeling…he might have been snooping around, looking for secrets. I made a joke to them about all the conspiracy theories surrounding Capsule Corp. Maybe he legitimately believed some of them, and was trying to get proof."

Suddenly, Gohan remembered Bayonet's comments the day before. '_I'd be more surprised if there weren't secret conspiracies.'_ Apparently, he wasn't the only one who thought that.

"And he just _happened_ to find the Android blueprints. That's unlucky."

"And that's part of the problem," explained Bulma. "Of all the people to find them…a 16-year-old child prodigy? When _I_ was 16, I was working on the Dragon Radar. I wasn't thinking of the consequences. I just knew I could make it, so I did. If I had seen technology for robots, I would have immediately started trying to build one. Just to prove I could."

"So…you think he might try to build more Androids?" It was the worst case scenario, and Gohan understood what the consequences could be.

"He might. I know _I_ would have. You just get caught up in big ideas and new technology – you never think about the repercussions of your actions. And that could be a problem."

"I don't see why this is such a big deal," came a new voice.

Uninvited, a new figure walked into the room. He had apparently been listening in for a while. A foot shorter than Gohan, his long black hair in a style almost impossible to replicate naturally, he had his arms crossed in what seemed like boredom.

"If he makes more Androids, we can just destroy them," said Vegeta, dismissively. "They're hardly a threat anymore."

Bulma frowned. "You shouldn't eavesdrop, Vegeta,"

"It's not my fault that you're too loud," he rebutted.

Bulma rolled her eyes, the insult seemingly not important enough to register. "The problem isn't whether you can beat them or not," she explained to the two Saiyans. "The problem is what sort of…damage…they might cause if we don't find them in time."

_Damage? _"What do you mean?" asked Gohan.

"17 and 18 were powerful. And I still remember what the other Trunks told us about them. They could easily kill thousands of people if they were set loose. Sure, it would attract you guys, but by then, it would be too late."

"That's not a problem," dismissed Vegeta. "You can just use the Dragon Balls."

Something about the way Vegeta said that seemed to set Bulma off. "No, we can't!" she exclaimed, suddenly raising her voice. "First of all, the Dragon Balls are inactive right now. We can't use them for a few months. Second of all, everyone on Earth has died already. They can't be brought back to life again."

She turned to look from Gohan to Vegeta, then back again.

"And third…I've decided…" She looked a little angry. "We're not using people as _bait_ anymore."

"Bait?"

"You know what I mean! The way you've sacrificed innocent lives in your petty battles. I'm sick of it! It's been happening for years now, but no one seemed to have a problem with it! When Majin Buu arrived at the lookout, searching for the boys, Piccolo _willingly_ let the people die so they could get more time. If we didn't have the Dragon Balls, they would have been dead for good. I've had _enough_ of risking the lives of innocent people just so _you guys _can get a good fight!"

Her voice had been gradually rising in pitch and volume, and now she was almost yelling.

"Did you know I suggested we stop Dr. Gero before he could even _make_ the Androids? And Goku stopped me, because he wanted to fight them! Well, I'm not making that mistake again! This time, I'm going to find Maestro before someone could get hurt, and I don't _care_ what you idiots think!"

Her sudden outburst had shocked them both into silence. Gohan tried to think back. Had Bulma really suggested that? He didn't remember. It was such a long time ago. He had been so young.

But, eventually, Vegeta resigned. "Fine," he snapped. "Do what you want. It's not like Androids would be a good fight, anyway. I'd get more challenge training with Trunks."

And he left the room, leaving Gohan alone with Bulma.

"Um…" Gohan didn't know what to do. Bulma seemed so distraught. He wanted to make her feel better, but he didn't know how.

Then, he had an idea.

"If you want, I'll help you find him."

Bulma turned around, suddenly remembering his presence. "What?"

"I'll help you find him," he repeated, a lot more confidently. "If we can stop Androids from being built…we wouldn't even have to fight in the first place!"

Bulma looked at him and smiled, her expression surprisingly soft. "Oh, Gohan. That's…really sweet."

She sighed. "Sorry for yelling at you," she apologised. "I just needed to get it out there."

"That's okay," he said. "You've got a point. I never thought about it like that."

She sat down at her desk again, not wanting to look anyone in the eye. "I don't know what made me realise it," she said softly, seemingly talking to both Gohan and herself. "Maybe it was the fact that _we_ were targeted. Maybe it was the fact that, when I got back, my co-workers were bombarding me with graphic stories about how they died. Either way, I realised…it's not fair for us to put their lives in jeopardy anymore. They deserve to live, just as much as we do."

Gohan stared at her, curious. He didn't normally see Bulma like this. She was usually so carefree. _Dying must have really affected her,_ he thought.

They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Bulma piped up:

"Trunks is in his room."

"What-oh, right!" Gohan suddenly remembered the reason why he was there in the first place.

* * *

So Gohan rushed over to Trunks' room. At least, he _thought_ he was going in the direction of Trunks' room. Their place was enormous. It was always so easy to get lost, no matter how many times he came over.

Eventually, he found Trunks' room. He knocked and opened the door. Trunks was just sitting on the enormous couch in the centre of his room, watching TV. His hair had started growing out, almost reaching his chin. He wondered whether Bulma was going to take him for a haircut. Perhaps not. Trunks didn't have the same problem Gohan and Goten did. As soon as their hair got too long, it started growing outwards. Either way, if Gohan didn't keep cutting it, it would end up a lot like his fathers' unmanageable spikes. But Trunks…Gohan remembered the other version of himself. If they weren't that different, he would have the ability to have his hair any length he wanted.

The young half-Saiyan boy sure had a lot. His room was filled with toys and all sorts of games. Some of them were placed messily into large plastic boxes, but others were just lying on the floor, unused. Carefully climbing over the discarded toys, Gohan understood why Goten came so often to their house. There was a lot to entertain.

Trunks turned and saw him. "Gohan!" he exclaimed, grinning. "Hi! What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say hi," Gohan explained. "And, you know, to hang out."

He was so lucky. In a way, Gohan had _two_ younger brothers. It was always such a thrill to see them grow up, and to help them and teach them. Gohan still remembered that in that alternate timeline, he was Trunks' mentor. His mentor! It sounded like such a…responsibility.

Sometimes, he wished he could have met that future version of himself. He sounded like the coolest person ever.

"Oh, cool!" Trunks turned off the television and bounded over to him, full of energy. "Can you play Firefight with me?"

"Firefight?"

"It's this new game I got," explained Trunks eagerly. "It's better if you play with someone else, and Goten isn't very good."

"Goten's played this?"

Trunks nodded. "But he's not that good. I'm sure you'll be a lot better. Cause you're older, and stuff. Come on, can you play? It's no fun unless you're versing someone."

_I might as well._ "OK," he agreed. He'd talk to Trunks while they were playing, perhaps.

"Oh, and Trunks?" he added. "'Versing' isn't a word. It's just 'versus'. There's no plural to it."

"Really?"

Gohan nodded. Sometimes, he just couldn't stop himself from correcting people like that.

Trunks passed Gohan a controller, and started up the game. He seemed to have a lot of experience playing these games. At the very least, he was the only one who knew how to get past the multitude of menus to start the game mode he wanted.

He started the mode, and showed Gohan how to sign in as a second player. When it started up, he began explaining the game.

"See, you start off as this soldier." He pointed to their player characters, separated by a split-screen. "What you need to do is start shooting the aliens _here._" Trunks immediately started controlling his character, shooting the creatures, the controller a blur in his hands. It was still pretty easy to follow his character's movements. Despite what the humans had assumed, Saiyans weren't that much better than humans when it came to hand-eye co-ordination.

_Like when Father gave me that earring to fuse, and I dropped it._

Quickly, Gohan tried to forget he thought that. Why did he always have to remind himself of those failures?

"When you kill the aliens, you get stats," Trunks was explaining. "And when the time is up, we get to fight each other with all the stats we got."

_Huh. _"That's actually really interesting," mused Gohan. "It adds an element of strategy to it."

"I guess," said Trunks. He had already started mowing down the aliens in his general vicinity.

_Oh, right,_ Gohan suddenly realised. _I need to start, too. I don't want to be too far behind._

So, occasionally looking at Trunks' screen to understand the strategy, he started following his instructions and shooting the 'aliens'. They didn't particularly look like aliens to him. More like overgrown insects. It was obvious whoever built this game had never been face-to-face with a real-life alien.

Then Gohan felt like an idiot. _Of course they haven't met a real-life alien,_ he thought. _Unless they met Vegeta. Or…or my dad._

It always took him a few seconds to process that his father was alive now. He had been so used to forgetting about him.

"So, Trunks?" Gohan asked.

Trunks seemed preoccupied with his game. "Huh?"

Gohan kept up a conversational tone while they were playing. "I was just wondering…are you going to keep training?"

"Well, dad wants me to," replied Trunks. "But…I dunno if I want to. What's the point?"

"Because you're a Super Saiyan now?" Gohan still found it hard to believe Goten and Trunks had transformed so easily. It wasn't just the age that was strange. It was the _reason._ For them, it had seemed so natural.

Trunks frowned. "Yeah. That, and Gotenks can beat everyone. If we go Super Saiyan 3…we're stronger than everyone! Well…except you."

Gohan smiled. "Except me." After all, Goten and Trunks had sensed his power when he faced Majin Buu. And they'd seen the damage he did to him.

The young boy then turned to face him. "Hey, is anyone else going to get that ritual power-up thingy like you did? Can I get it?"

"I don't think so," said Gohan. "The only reason the Elder Kai did it for me in the first place was because the universe was in danger."

_And we bribed him,_ Gohan thought. That was another reason.

But Goten and Trunks having the same kind of power sort of terrified him. And…perhaps he would be a little jealous. The fact that he had this power made him feel unique. He didn't want that to be taken from him.

On the screen, it looked like time was up. They were suddenly transported to a smaller arena-like area, when they had to fight. Gohan struggled with the controls, desperately trying to get some good hits on Trunks. From what he could tell, the bullets from their guns went too fast to reliably dodge, no matter how good your reflexes were. The best option was to run for cover, and shoot when you had a good hit.

While Trunks was more experienced, Gohan thought he was better at strategy. The young half-Saiyan boy seemed to charge in for an attack without realising it left him wide open. Slowly, Gohan managed to whittle down Trunks' health. _Perhaps I might actually win this,_ he thought. That would be a surprise.

Suddenly, Trunks' avatar started glowing red, surrounded by what looked like bright crimson flames. He shot Gohan a few times, and then got him into a combo that took off the rest of his health. His character fell down to the ground, and a red filter took up his side of the screen. Trunks had won.

Trunks grinned. "Yay! I win!"

"What was that?" Gohan asked, taken by surprise.

"Oh, I just went Super Saiyan," said Trunks, still proud from his victory. "It's not _actually_ Super Saiyan, but that's what I call it, cause it sort of looks like one. You do a lot more damage, and you can do your finishing move."

Gohan frowned. "But how did you do that?"

"Oh, you just hold both triggers down at the same time," Trunks explained quickly.

"You didn't tell me about that."

"Whoops!" Trunks started to laugh. "I guess I forgot."

_That was a cheap trick,_ Gohan thought. He was pretty sure Trunks had neglected to tell him on purpose. _But there's no point telling him off…_Trunks was just overly competitive. Just like his father.

"But Trunks…" continued Gohan, now that the game was over. "I was just telling Goten, you can't rely on being able to fuse all the time. And if you get stronger on your own, wouldn't that make Gotenks stronger, too?"

"I guess," said Trunks. "But Goten would have to get stronger, as well. We can't fuse unless we're at the same power level."

_That's true,_ Gohan realised. Either they would both have to train, or none at all.

"Well…just remember, you're not the strongest. Not yet."

"So, you mean…I have to keep training?"

"Oh, no!" Gohan tried to backpedal a little. He didn't want to be a hypocrite. "If you don't _want_ to train, then that's fine! But if you enjoy it…you shouldn't stop just because you think you're the strongest. There's always a way to improve. My father always used to say that."

It looked like his words had reached Trunks. The boy sat there, mulling it over. "OK."

* * *

They then played a few more matches. Despite Gohan's best efforts, Trunks won all of them, although he had gotten pretty close to beating him at some points. He was sure it was just because Trunks had more experience. If he played more often, he might have been able to beat him. Maybe. As long as Trunks didn't cheat again.

Eventually, Gohan decided it was time to head home. Dinner would probably be starting soon.

"Just remember what I told you about training," Gohan said to Trunks as he left. "I don't think Goten understands it, but you need to remember not to let the power go to your head. The consequences…I know them more than anything."

And that familiar image brought itself to the forefront of his brain. That of his father, holding a bloated Cell, about to self-destruct.

_You did well, Gohan. I'm proud of you. Tell your mother I'm sorry._

7 years, and Gohan still couldn't forget it completely.

But then Trunks started talking, abruptly bringing him back to the present day.

"You're good at this 'advice' stuff, Gohan," he said. "When I ask Dad something, he just tells me to destroy what's in my way."

Gohan chuckled. "That sounds just like Vegeta."

So when he left the Briefs' compound, he felt a renewed confidence. Perhaps he could still be useful. Like finding that 'Maestro' guy. If he could stop him from possible endangering others, and he did it without needing his father to help…it would be just what he needed.


	5. Separation

That day at school, things were actually looking up for him. Maybe it was the fact that he had something he could do, to find that boy who might have the Android blueprints. Maybe it was because, that day, he _didn't_ feel entirely lost during class! But, either way, it felt like he was finally getting his life back in control.

Of course, the universe just _loved_ to prove him wrong, didn't it?

At the end of the day, as he and Videl were just leaving the school gates, Videl's watch started beeping.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. It was a crime. How convenient! He was right there.

"It's a siege," explained the policeman's voice over the watch. It wasn't Bayonet. Clearly, it was someone he hadn't heard before. "They've got 14 hostages, and are threatening to kill them unless we come with money."

Videl winced. "14. That's going to be tough."

But then she looked at him, and smiled. But there was something…almost sad about that smile.

So they left to stop the crime together.

"Saiyaman?" she asked, as they were flying.

He shook his head. "I told you, I'm not doing it until your outfit is finished. It's going to look ridiculous."

Videl rolled her eyes. "You're telling _me_ that something's going to look ridiculous…"

* * *

The siege wasn't too far away. As they landed near the building, Gohan examined the situation. The crime had clearly been going on for a while. A police barrier had been erected around the building, and a multitude of officers were waiting outside.

The police recognised Videl, and started crowding around her, explaining the situation.

"It's OK," she said. "I'm going in."

"Wait!" One of the older officers, perhaps of a higher rank, protested. "We need to assure the safety of the hostages first!"

"Gohan will deal with them," she said, almost bored. "Isn't that right, Gohan?"

"Oh, of course!" he said, confidently.

The policemen looked at him with curiosity.  
She sighed. "This is the Great Saiyaman. He's not in costume today."

And, as the men looked in disbelief, she gestured for him to come inside the building. No one even tried to stop them.

As they walked up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible, Gohan took control. 14 people hostage…but there were only 7 criminals. That wouldn't be too hard. If they didn't see him coming, which they never did, he could disarm them quickly.

They arrived at the top, and they saw them. Seven armed criminals. 2 were holding their guns around the hostages, ready to fire if someone tried to attack. He'd have to take them out first. The other 5 were in various places around the room. Most of them didn't even have their guns out. _Too easy._

Still, to be sure, he'd try and do this quickly. First he disarmed the two men holding the hostages, knocking the guns out of their hands with his speed. And then, for good measure, he knocked them unconscious. Gohan had gotten experience in just how much force was needed to knock them out. And it was a lot easier to do it now he'd had his potential unlocked. He wasn't worried about accidentally killing them.

Once those two were gone, Gohan decided to move to the others. They were spread out apart from one another, so he'd have to disarm them and knock them out one by one. But that still didn't take very long. How long was it in seconds? He didn't know. Maybe, one time, he'd actually time it. But, then, wouldn't it waste more time if he had to keep starting and stopping the stopwatch? And, now he thought about it, did his Great Saiyaman watch even _have_ a stopwatch in it? It had the time, but he never checked if it had any other features. Perhaps he would check after this.

Those were the thoughts going through his mind as he stopped a terrifying siege, holding over a dozen people hostage. And soon, it was over, and he was surrounded by 6 unconscious bodies.

_Wait a second…there's only 6. Where's the seventh one?_ He turned around, and then he saw him. Shocked at the rapid disposal of his comrades, the criminal charged, determined to get _someone_ as a bargaining chip. And he went towards…Videl!

Gohan rushed towards him, getting in-between of the criminal and his girlfriend. He had to stop him, quick! So he gave him a light punch to the stomach. Wincing in pain, he slumped to the ground, knocked out.

_So, that's all of them._ With 7 criminals and hostages, Gohan had almost expected it to be harder. Oh, well. Everyone was safe. That was all that mattered.

"Alright. That settles that," he said out loud, confidently. "I guess we can tell the police to come inside now. Right, Videl?"

But all he heard was silence.

He turned around. "Videl?"

Videl was staring at him with a strange expression on her face. She seemed partly scared and partly…angry?

"Is something wrong?" he asked with concern.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

"You could have let me do something!" she yelled. "I had that guy, and you took it from me. Again!"

_What? _Gohan was puzzled. "But…he was going to hurt you. I couldn't let that happen."

"How do you know that?" she snapped. "You just assume I can't deal with this stuff! If you must know, I've been fighting criminals for longer than you have!"

_Not really,_ Gohan thought. _I was 4 when Raditz arrived. And he was more dangerous than any criminal._ But he had a feeling saying that wasn't going to help.

"Well, next time, I'll let you deal with them." Gohan was desperately trying to calm Videl down. But he still didn't know what made her so worked up.

And then, something in her expression changed. Her fierce attitude disappeared. It was like she just suddenly…gave up. "Maybe not…" She turned away from him.

"What, you mean you don't want to fight them? But I thought you liked that!"

"That's not it!" she burst out. "Maybe…maybe we shouldn't do this anymore."

"Why not?" Videl's sudden change of tone surprised him.

She started slowly walking away, staring at the floor.

"I…I can't keep _doing _this," she said softly. "Not with you. I just want everything to go back to what it used to be."

It looked like she was holding words back.

"I don't want to fight with you anymore. I…I shouldn't even _see_ you anymore. It just makes it…"

Gohan approached her. "Videl? Are you OK? If something's wrong…"

She recoiled, stepping back. "Leave me alone! You wouldn't understand. I…just…I need some time on my own. OK?"

"On your own? What do you mean?"

Videl stood in silence, staring at him. Then she spoke, hesitantly, as if the words were being ripped out of her. "It's probably best…if we don't see each other," she said softly. "It'll be good for you, and for me."

Gohan was still confused. "I don't-"

And then the fierceness came back. "Oh, my god! Do I need to spell out everything for you? Do you not get it?"

As Gohan stared at her, Videl took a deep breath, looked him straight in the eye, and said:

"I'm breaking up with you, Gohan."

Immediately, she turned away from him, and started running away.

Gohan, still confused, tried to follow her. They had reached the stairs when Videl seemed to realise that she was still being trailed. Hands on her hips, she turned to him.

"Gohan!" she yelled. "Don't follow me! Just…just give me some space, OK? Please!"

And, as Gohan stood there, dumbstruck, Videl ran out of the building and flew off.

_What's wrong with her?_ He didn't understand. They had…broken up? But how? He would have followed her. He knew he could catch up with her, easily. But her last words echoed in her mind. _Just…just give me some space! _He shouldn't ignore what she wanted, right? That could just make it worse.

But what did he do wrong? Why was she so upset? He ran his fingers through his hair. Why did girls have to be so hard to understand? He didn't think he had done anything wrong, and now, all of a sudden, Videl decided that he didn't want to see him anymore?

All he wanted was to understand what was wrong. But if she didn't want to see him…he would have to ask someone else about it. If he didn't understand, maybe someone else would. And then he could work out what Videl's problem was, and they could get back together again.

Perhaps he'd ask his mother. Maybe this was just a 'girl' thing.

* * *

Videl flew away before Gohan could truly react. She needed to get away from him. She needed to leave before he could see her tears.

She flew, as fast as she could in the direction of her house. She just had to get home, far away from him. She needed something familiar.

It didn't take too long before she saw the huge silhouette of her house. But she didn't go through the front door. Instead, she flew up to the balcony on her room.

Videl ran onto her bed, placed her head into her pillow, and started to cry.

_I did it. I finally broke up with him. But why am I so depressed?_

She thought she knew the answer. _I'm still in love with him._ But she had to forget about him. She needed to. Every second he stood there was a reminder of how pathetic she was.

_From now on, everything is going to go back to normal. I'll just let Gohan forget about me. He'll find someone else. I'm sure he'll meet some other girl who is also smart and maybe she'll also be an alien. And I can live my life the way it was supposed to be. No more craziness._

In her heart, Videl knew it wouldn't work. Buu was still living in their house. And it wasn't like she was never going to see Gohan again. But she couldn't deal with it anymore. Now that the world wasn't in danger anymore, she had to live with knowing how useless she truly was. And she couldn't do it. She couldn't handle it anymore.

She just wished she was ignorant again. Knowing the truth just made everything worse. If only she could go back in time, and warn herself about it. _Don't talk to that Son Gohan,_ she would say. _Don't even look at him. He might be weird, but that's it. There's nothing else about him._

_Aliens don't exist. Monsters don't exist. Your father is every bit the hero people tell you he is. And you…you're amazing, and you can do anything you set your mind to._

And that made her start crying all over again.

God, she was pathetic!

There was a small part of her that wanted to go running back. OK, make that a large part of her. It was that part of her that she felt belonged to him. And now that she'd resolved not to see him anymore…that part was breaking.

But she had to dry her tears. She had to be brave, and deal with it. She had survived criminals, tournaments, and 2 days stuck on the lookout, believing everyone she knew and loved was dead. She at least had to get through breaking up with her boyfriend.

It took a long time, but the tears finally stopped. And then she flew back out her balcony, down to the front door, resolving to act as normal as possible.

Normal. That was it. She would be normal, once again.

* * *

At dinner that night, Gohan decided to ask his mother about what happened.

"Mum?" he asked.

Chi-Chi turned to look at him. "What is it, Gohan?"

_Uh…how do I put this?_ "Videl was acting…really weird today," he explained. "She was getting all mad at me, and I think we've broken up-"

His mother dropped the spoon she was holding.

"Break up? But why?" she exclaimed, running up to him. "Videl's an excellent girl!"

_That, and she has a lot of money._ Did his mother still care about that?

Gohan sighed. "I don't know. I made her angry for some reason, and I don't know why. I thought you might understand."

Chi-Chi sat down on her seat at the dining table. "Well, what happened?" she asked, suddenly filled with concern.

"Well…" He tried to think back.

"We were at this siege, trying to stop it. A guy was going after her, so I took him out quickly. When it was over, Videl was yelling at me, telling me that she could have dealt with him and she didn't need my help. And then she got all sad, and told me that it would be better if we didn't see each other. She was saying something about how it made her feel…I don't know _what_ it made her feel. But I don't think she was happy about it."

Chi-Chi's eyes were wide with realisation.

"Do you know what the problem was?" he asked, eagerly.

Chi-Chi nodded. "I think I do."

"Well, what was it?"

"You see, she's-"

She abruptly stopped, frowning.

"Actually…I don't think I'm the best person to be explaining it to you. Maybe, if you talked to someone with more experience…"

_Experience?_

Chi-Chi started counting on her fingers, muttering to herself.

"Krillin," she decided. "You should talk to Krillin about it. I'm sure he understands what Videl's feeling right now."

_Krillin? _Gohan wasn't expecting that. Perhaps he could go to Kame House today and talk to him…

_Maybe not. It's a bit late. Marron's probably sleeping. _He didn't want to wake her up.

Tomorrow. He'd go tomorrow, and ask Krillin what was wrong. Then he could start getting back together with Videl.

The only problem was – he'd see her at school tomorrow.

* * *

**[AN: I hope you guys aren't too hard on these fictional characters! Just so you know, there isn't a particular 'right side' to this argument. If you don't agree with Videl, that's fine. And if you don't agree with Gohan, that's fine, too.]**


	6. Separation - Part 2

**[AN: For those of you who didn't understand the reasons for the breakup, I hope this chapter helps clear things up a little. Remember, I'm not trying to advocate one side of this argument. You can agree with whoever you like.**

**Also, Re: DBZ5687 - I don't know if you've already seen it, but your questions are answered in the first chapter.]**

"You should get back together."

Videl groaned. It only took one day for news to spread that she and Gohan had broken up. It wasn't like they were acting hostile to one another. That day at school, there was just a lot of…avoiding. She didn't want to talk to him, and he didn't want to talk to her. With the glances she'd seen of him that day, he didn't seem to be mad at her. He just didn't want to set her off again. But that just made it worse! It was really hard to be mad at someone if they didn't understand why you were mad at them. He was like a puppy…like Bee, or something.

"I can't," she replied to Erasa over the phone. As soon as school was over, her best friend had called her. She probably wanted to know what was going on. In Erasa's view, she and Gohan hadn't even been fighting. There was no reason for them to suddenly break up.

"Why not?" Erasa demanded. "You guys are, like, made for each other. And you've barely started dating!"

"You don't understand. I can't go back to what I was."

Erasa paused, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

Videl sighed. She had to explain. Erasa could at least understand this. "Whenever I'm with Gohan, it makes me feel…incompetent. We've been fighting crime together, but watching him…it made me realise he doesn't _need_ me at all. Yesterday, he took down, like, a dozen armed criminals without even trying!"

"But that's…" Erasa started to whisper, as if scared being overheard. "But that's because he's an alien."

_Half-alien,_ Gohan would have corrected. She had finally told Erasa the truth a while after the Majin Buu business ended, after swearing her to secrecy. It was a secret that would have been eating her up from the inside if she kept it entirely to herself. And Erasa was the most trustworthy person she knew. If anyone could be trusted to keep a secret, it would be her.

"I know that," Videl said. "And I know it's not even his fault. But that just makes it worse. When I'm around him and his people, I'm completely useless. When Majin Buu was attacking, the world was in danger, and all I did was sit on the lookout and do _nothing_! I couldn't help, even if I tried!"

"Well, to be fair, it's not like anyone else could have done anything," said Erasa, trying to be the devil's advocate. "_I _couldn't help, either."

"But they could," Videl explained. "The…the Saiyans stopped him. If I didn't know about them, I would have thought we were _all_ useless. And now it's like…what's the point of fighting crime, if Gohan can blow up _planets! _Even if I wanted to help, there'd be no point! I…I just wish I didn't know the truth. It makes me feel like crap."

"So that's why you broke up with him?"

Erasa was surprisingly perceptive.

"Yes. I have to pretend he doesn't exist if I want to be in control of my life again."

Erasa paused, as if mulling it over in her head. Eventually, she said, "I understand what you mean, but I still think you should get back together. Pretending he doesn't exist isn't going to work. I mean, he's in your class. And what happens if another crime happens?"

Videl had thought of that. "Well, Gohan doesn't have a communicator like I do, yet. So I'm just going to go solo again. The way things used to be."

Erasa sighed. "I'm not sure if that will work. Maybe you should just apologise."

"No way!" Videl started getting on the offensive. "I didn't do anything wrong! If anything, _he_ has to apologise to me! He's been so…overprotective. When we were at that siege, Gohan took them all out before I could even _try_ to help! He's treating me like…like an accessory. I'm just there to sit and look pretty, but when push comes to shove, all I can do is sit in the background and watch."

She started mimicking him. 'Oh, don't worry, Videl. Fighting is for the Saiyans! You can just sit back and marvel at how amazing I am! Or…go back to the kitchen, or something.'

Videl doubted Gohan would ever say something like that. But that was how she was feeling at the moment.

"If that's what you think," said Erasa. "But…but I thought you loved him."

"I-I do." Videl felt like she was going to start crying again. "And I miss him. But I can't just go back on my decision. When I decide to do something, I stick to it. That's the Videl way."

Erasa sounded frustrated. "Fine. Whatever. Do what you want. I just hope you two will make up soon. I don't want to sit through another lunch when you two are just glaring at each other. It was like Gohan's first day all over again."

Videl sighed. She didn't think about that. It was always difficult when your friends were in the midst of an argument. "We'll see."

* * *

"She's going cold turkey," explained Krillin.

"Cold turkey?" asked Gohan, confused.

"She's giving up on us. Obviously, she doesn't like feeling useless in comparison to you."

"But she's not useless!" exclaimed Gohan. "She's been fighting for a long time."

Krillin sighed. "That's true. And I think that's part of the problem. Remember, this is the daughter of Mr. Satan we're talking about. She's probably used to having the world at her feet. Finding out that there are people much, much stronger than her, and that there's no way she can catch up, no matter how hard she tries…"

His voice trailed off. Obviously, he was thinking about something.

Then, abruptly, he snapped back to reality. "Let's just say, it probably makes her feel inadequate. And, if she's fighting with you, that fact is shoved in her face all the time. No wonder she stopped."

"But…" Gohan was still a little confused. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose. I never asked to be a Saiyan. Why would she be mad at me?"

"I don't think she's mad. But if she's deciding to try and forget about the existence of aliens, well…you're living proof of it. I'm assuming that's why she wants to distance herself from you."

Krillin's explanation…it made sense to Gohan. If Videl really thought there was no other option other than forgetting about him…that would explain why she was so quick to run away. She wanted to get over it as soon as possible.

But, at the same time, how was he supposed to get back together with her if she didn't want to acknowledge that he _existed_?

"So what should I do?" asked Gohan desperately.

"Exactly what she told you," answered Krillin. "Give her some space. Don't try to _win_ her back. This sounds like something she has to deal with on her own. I'm sure she'll turn around eventually. She just needs to adjust."

"But how long will that take?"

Krillin scratched his head. "I'm not sure. But, let's put it this way: do you really love her if you're not willing to wait?"

That made Gohan think. "I do love her," he answered. It was the truth. That day without her was agony. Her presence always seemed to make everything better. "I just wish I could help her."

Krillin smiled. "Sometimes, the best thing to do is to do nothing."

_I guess that makes sense._ Gohan was still a little confused, but at least he knew Videl might not stay mad forever. All he had to do was wait.

"Thanks for the advice, Krillin. I guess Mum was right when she said you could help."

"Of course," said Krillin. "I know what it's like. I considered going cold turkey once, just after the Cell Games. But #18 brought me back."

"You did?" asked Gohan, surprised. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen that much of Krillin immediately after the Cell Games. But he had thought that he was running after #18. And, to be fair, he hadn't seen much of everyone immediately after the Cell Games. That was a tough time for him.

Krillin nodded. "But I realised I wouldn't give you guys up. You may make me feel like I need to put more money on my life insurance, but I wouldn't miss your adventures for anything."

* * *

"So, what's going on between you and Videl?" asked Sharpener, the next day at school. "Have you broken up?"

With him and Videl very clearly separated, their group of 4 had been fractured in half – Erasa was following Videl and Sharpener was following him. But it still didn't feel like a typical break-up from what Gohan had read. For one thing, Sharpener and Erasa were still talking eagerly to each other. It didn't seem like they were trying to get involved in the argument. They were just being extremely helpful when him and Videl were desperately trying not to sit next to one another in class.

"I don't know," Gohan admitted. "But, apparently, I'm supposed to _give her some space._"

Sharpener frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

Gohan shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. But I know it means I can't interfere with her affairs. Something like that."

Sharpener sighed. "I swear, if there was an 'I Don't Understand Girls' club, I'd be…like…the Vice-President or something. And two of my best friends are girls!"

"If that's a real club, then sign _me_ up, too," said Gohan, gloomily.

Sharpener laughed. "Maybe I will, Son. Maybe I will."

Gohan was still confused with why Sharpener kept referring to him by his family name. Videl had said it was a sign of respect. It was just strange. No one had ever called him that before he started school.

As they walked past, Gohan noticed a group of boys from the year above them, their gazes following him as he moved. And, as they left, he could clearly hear them muttering.

Sharpener seemed to notice it, too. He rolled his eyes.

"God, I hate those guys. Such wusses."

"Wusses?" asked Gohan, confused. That was a way of saying 'coward', wasn't it?

"They're acting like little girls. It's so stupid."

Now Gohan was curious. "What do you mean, 'acting like girls?'"

Sharpener sighed, and started his explanation. "I mean, it's clear they're talking about you, right?"

"Right." Gohan had figured that much out. They had been watching him, and then they started talking as soon as he left. It was like he had done something wrong, but…all he had been doing was walking!

Humans were so difficult to understand sometimes.

They stopped at Sharpener's locker. As he opened it up to put his books away, he continued the explanation.

"What I hate is how they're whispering about it. Normally, if a guy has a problem with you, he tells it to your face. That's what's _supposed_ to happen."

Gohan nodded along. Vegeta in particular had no problems with telling people exactly what he thought about them. But, then again, neither did Bulma.

"But these guys…they're too _scared_ to confront you. They probably think you'll beat them up or something."

"I wouldn't do that!" Gohan exclaimed. "Even if they don't like me…I would never try and hurt them. Not on purpose."

"Yeah, but they don't realise that. So they only talk about you when you can't hear them."

That explanation made sense. Almost too much sense. "Is that why everyone's been avoiding me?"

Sharpener thought about it. "Probably," he decided, closing the door to his locker. "They're all scared of you."

"You're not scared of me."

But then Sharpener laughed. "Who said I wasn't? I just don't care as much."

_What?_ Gohan froze. "You're scared of me?" he asked, incredulously. He started stammering. "Why? I'm not…I wouldn't…"

"Hey, hey!" Sharpener gave him a pat on the shoulder. "We're still friends, don't worry! But let's just say…" He lowered his voice. "If everyone knew the _whole_ truth, things would be a lot worse."

_The whole truth._ No one knew he was a Saiyan. If they did…how many more people would be muttering? That wasn't such a pleasant thought to dwell on.

The sooner Videl dealt with her issues, the better. Although…was _she_ scared of him, as well? What if she was, and she was just lying about it? What if that was a reason why she broke up with him? He just didn't understand.

Why would people act like that? Videl, Sharpener, everyone else…they seemed to all treat him differently because of how strong he was. But…it wasn't like he was ever _trying_ to hurt others! Couldn't they have a _little_ faith in him? If he really lost control of himself…it was likely the Earth would be destroyed. Surely the fact that it was still standing was proof enough that he wouldn't lose control!

Things were certainly a lot lonelier without Videl. During class, he kept looking at her, trying to communicate his feelings. _I know why you're upset now,_ he thought, wishing Videl could hear him. _But just because you're human…it doesn't mean you need to forget about me. I still want to go out with you._

But it was to no avail. Videl just kept trying to avoid him! And he knew it was on purpose. Whenever he tried to catch her gaze, she would immediately look away.

So, from what Krillin had told him, he couldn't just go and confront Videl and ask if they could make up. And Sharpener confirmed it. "If you do it now, she's just going to reject you again," he explained to Gohan, during class. "Just look at her!"

They glanced at Videl, who was staring out the window, seemingly determined to avoid everyone. She still looked a little unhinged, as if one small comment could easily set her off.

"Is she going to be like this forever?" asked Gohan.

Sharpener shrugged. "Dunno," he replied. "But she usually calms down eventually. I've gotten on her bad side before, and we're still friends."

That made him feel a little better.

* * *

But that didn't mean it wasn't annoying. And, with the weekend coming up, he'd have to wait a few more days before he could see her at school again. Unless he went to her house over the weekend, but…that wouldn't be _giving her space_, would it?

"I just don't get girls," he told Goten, once he had gotten home.

"First you think they like you, then they say they don't like you, but they might actually be _lying_ when they say that. I don't understand why it's so hard to communicate."

"Girls do sound confusing," Goten commented, in his usual innocent manner.

"Do me a favour, and don't ever get a girlfriend."

"Don't you have to be a teenager to get a girlfriend?"

Gohan smiled. "It's just a joke, Goten. Don't worry."

And the two boys went back inside in time for dinner.

While he and his family were busy eating, Gohan was still mulling over the whole 'break-up' situation.

It wasn't just that he missed seeing Videl. It was that, without her, he only had one real friend who he could talk to at school, and that was Sharpener. And he didn't even like Sharpener that much! Perhaps he'd have to try and find some more friends. That is, if people actually _wanted_ to be his friends, and stopped muttering every time he walked past.

If no one wanted to be friends with him…well, he wouldn't mind _too_ much. He had already accepted he wasn't going to be 'popular'. That had been obvious to him from the very beginning, just by seeing how differently he acted to the other kids. But it would make things more fun if he had actual friends his age. That was part of the reason they had chosen a large high school like Orange Star in the first place.

Just then, the phone rang.

"It might be Videl!" he said, hopefully. In his eagerness, he rushed towards the phone before the others could even react.

"Hello?" he asked, picking the phone up.

"Gohan?" His excitement faded a little. It wasn't Videl. It was Bulma. Her tone was unexpectedly serious. "I might need your help for something tomorrow morning Do you have any prior arrangements?"

He thought about it. "Not particularly. What do you need me for?"

**[AN: Don't worry, guys. Next chapter, the plot is going to start up for real! I apologise to everyone for the slow start, and I appreciate everyone who's stuck through the less interesting parts.**

**Although, just as a warning: the action, when it happens, isn't going to be as intense as DBZ is known for. This fanfic is a primarily character-driven story, and the action will probably reflect that.]**


	7. Sleuthing

Gohan and Bulma stopped outside the gates of the house. It was quite large, and, judging by the quality of the front garden, lavishly decorated. Of course, next to the Briefs' compound, most houses felt small by comparison. When he went there, it made his house in the mountains feel like a tiny shack.

"So, are you sure Maestro lives here?" asked Gohan, climbing out of the helicopter.

"Positive," replied Bulma, as she nonchalantly placed the helicopter back into a capsule. "I looked it up, and I confirmed it from the college. This is his house."

"It's just…I still don't fully understand what you need my help for."

Bulma sighed. "We don't know how much he's looked at the blueprints. If he's already started replicating them…I think we need a Saiyan around, just in case things get ugly."

"But then why not ask my father? Or Vegeta?" It wasn't like Gohan didn't _want_ to help. It just seemed strange. He'd never done anything like this before.

She laughed. "Because Goku and Vegeta don't know how to talk to people. You do. Remember, I don't want to use force unless it's absolutely necessary. We're not breaking down the door. We're just asking him nicely if he wants to give them back. I don't think the others understand that sort of…subtlety."

Gohan grinned. It felt like a compliment, that he could do something his father couldn't. "I'll try my best."

Bulma rang the doorbell, playing a high-pitched chime.

About a minute later, an older woman answered the door. She looked to be a little older than Bulma, well-groomed, with perhaps a little too much makeup. Gohan's first impression of her was that she seemed like the kind of lady who was used to having everything go her way.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Hello!" said Bulma, cheerily. "Are you Aria? I'm Bulma, from Capsule Corp? We talked on the phone. I wanted to talk to you about your son."

The woman's eyes lit up. "Oh! Of course! Come in!"

And then she eagerly opened the door and let them inside.

The house seemed to be a mixture of modern and old-fashioned designs. Angular corridors and sharp colours would normally seem at odds with the more classic furniture and

After the lady's gaze lingered on him for a moment, making him feel suddenly uncomfortable, Bulma introduced him. "This is my nephew, Gohan. He's been helping around Capsule Corp recently. I thought it would be nice if he and your son met – you know, similar ages and all."

_His nephew?_ Thought Gohan, puzzled. _How much are we going to be lying?_

He tried to follow along. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, nervously.

"Ooh, he's polite, this one." She seemed impressed.

The woman – Aria - led them to the dining room. "Sit down, sit down!" she said. "Capsule Corp., you say? You're always welcome. What do you want from Maestro?"

"We just wanted to talk to him," said Bulma. "Is he here?"

Aria's face fell. "I'm sorry. You just missed him. Ever since he graduated from college, he sometimes leaves home for week-long trips. Often visiting friends. I think they have some sort of club, because they seem to get together a lot."

"Is that where he is now?" asked Gohan.  
"Yes. He left a few days ago, taking a lot of stuff with him. I'm sure he has some big ideas that he wanted to talk to them about. He's a dreamer, my son."

Bulma sighed. "We really wanted to meet him. I was looking at his credentials, and I must say, I was impressed. We need new talent like him at Capsule Corp."

Gohan was surprised how well Bulma was at this deception. She sounded sincere. _She must be trying to impress his mother._

"Ooh, that would be a dream come true for him!" Aria started gushing. "Ever since he was little, we always knew he was destined for something great. Having a career at a distinguished place like yours – I'm sure he'd accept!"

"Well, do you how I might be able to find him?" asked Bulma. "We don't exactly have a cut-off time, but I'm sure he'd want to start as soon as possible. I really want to see him in person."

Gohan understood. Bulma was trying to get his mother to give them his location, but, the way she worded it, she made it sound like it was to his benefit. It was a really clever idea.

His mother looked at her sadly. "I wish I could tell you," she said. "But when he goes off, it's almost impossible to contact him. He never answers his phone. I'll definitely leave him a message about you. Perhaps I could get your number? If he comes home, I'll tell you as soon as possible."

"Just ring the Capsule Corp. headquarters," explained Bulma. "The receptionist will tell me personally."

Despite everything, Gohan was still curious. "He's only 16, right?" he asked the mother. "And he just goes off on his own? Aren't you worried about him?"

While _he_ had been independent at an even younger age than that, he knew enough about human life to understand it wasn't a normal situation.

"We were, at first," said Aria, her anxieties clear in her face. "But he's a…a _very_ smart boy. He's been mostly self-sufficient even when he's at home. He just stays in his room, working on one contraption or another. He even makes his own meals when I'm not around."

She pointed to his room, visible on the second floor of the house. It had a large, handwritten sign on the front saying 'KEEP OUT'.

"That's part of the reason he goes off with his friends. He says that they often have more space for him to work on his little inventions."

"So he's probably working on an invention now?" he asked.

"Most likely." Aria turned to Bulma. "I wish he was here. He normally locks his room when he's gone. If he was home, he could show you all the fantastic things he's made."

"That's why it's better to see him in person," Bulma explained. "Unless you understand how his inventions work?"

Aria shook her head. "I wish I could. But his brain…it all goes over my head."

Bulma suddenly looked around, as if someone had made an invisible signal.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you have any coffee? I would love to stay and chat about your boy. It's not often I meet people who share the same passions as me."

"Oh, of course! It's my pleasure!" exclaimed the mother. "What type of coffee do you prefer?"

Bulma started listing her coffee preference, which immediately went over Gohan's head. Small black, tall black, decaf, cappuccino…he didn't know the difference. His mother wasn't a big coffee drinker.

Aria walked out into the adjacent kitchen to prepare Bulma's coffee.

As soon she was out of sight, Bulma immediately turned to him. The cheery expression on her face was suddenly gone, replaced with a seriousness that surprised him.

"Alright," she said quietly. "From what we know, it looks like he's gone, and most likely took the blueprints with him."

"But do you think he's working on making more androids?" he whispered back. He knew they didn't want to be overheard.

"I have a feeling he's looking into it. We need to find him."

"But how? Even his mother doesn't know where he's gone!"

Bulma smirked. "That's where you come in. Here's the plan. When she returns from the kitchen, say that you need to go to the bathroom. I'll distract her. In the meantime, you need to get into his bedroom. If there are any clues to his whereabouts, they'd be in there."

That was an unusual request. "Like, break in? But how will I get there without you guys noticing me sneaking around?"

Bulma stared at him, partially in disbelief, and partially in amusement. "Gohan, you are _literally_ one of the strongest beings in the universe. I'm sure you can think of something."

_That doesn't necessarily help in this situation,_ he thought. But Bulma had a point. He had to at least try.

At that moment, Aria arrived with Bulma's coffee. "Have you ever seen those new instant coffee machines?" she asked her. "Just put in a capsule, and it brews it automatically! Do you make that sort of technology at Capsule Corp?"

"I've heard of them," replied Bulma, feigning interest. "I think we invented them initially, but I'm not sure if we still hold the patents for them. I can recall some being made by another manufacturer."

The two women continued talking about things that Gohan was honestly not interested in.

It was now or never. "Excuse me?" he interrupted. "May I go to the bathroom?"

"Oh, of course!" said Aria. "The nearest bathroom is just over there."

She pointed it out. Unfortunately, it was in her view. There was no way he could leave without her noticing.

_Is there a way I can use another bathroom? One further out of sight?_ He racked his brains, but couldn't think of an excuse that made sense. And he couldn't just change his mind now. He had to go.

"Thanks," he said. Hurriedly, he went into the bathroom, and locked the door.

* * *

_OK,_ he thought. _They're not looking at me anymore. So how do I get into his bedroom?_ He observed his surroundings. His heart was pounding in nervousness. He'd never done anything like this. He didn't normally break the rules. After all, if Maestro's mother noticed him snooping around Maestro's personal belongings…there was no way she would let them go without an explanation. But he had to get in there undetected.

_This shouldn't be such a big deal,_ he thought. _Bulma's right. I'm the strongest being in the universe. I can handle this._

Then he noticed a small window, just above the toilet. _A window. Perfect! I can just climb out and fly over to where his bedroom is. I'll just get in from the outside!_ He opened the window. It was just too small for him to climb through. But he could just fly through the gap. If he went in horizontally, and squashed his arms in, he would fit. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but he made it to the outside of their house.

_Now, where is his bedroom? _Gohan tried to visualise in his head where the bedroom would be in terms of the exterior. _It was on the second floor. The room should be in one of the windows above me._ Flying very carefully, so his body wouldn't be seen from the other windows, he managed to find it. At least, he was pretty sure it was his bedroom, considering it was filled with books and little mechanical devices. It almost reminded him of his bedroom, if you replaced the mechanical stuff with martial arts.

He tried to open the window, but it was locked. _Of course,_ he realised, a little too late._ It's not like windows normally open from the outside. There's no handle._ He sighed. It looked like there was only one way he was going to get in there. Bulma would probably be annoyed that he was breaking something, but he didn't think there was a choice.

Holding onto the window, he pulled, and easily ripped it from its hinges.

As he flew into the now windowless bedroom, Gohan tried to carefully manoeuvre the window so it stayed in the hole he had just made. That was easier said than done, though. He managed to fit it in so it didn't fall, although it was leaning at a bit of a precarious angle. From a distance, it looked like nothing had changed. _As long as no one tries to open the window anytime soon…_ He almost felt sorry for the guy. Perhaps he'd ask Bulma if she could pay for their window replacement.

But at least he was inside. Gohan scanned the room quickly. _I need something that will tell us where he is or what he's been doing. Like a diary._

The room was rather large, but it was filled with belongings. Books overflowed from the bookshelves – a few of which Gohan had seen before, but many more dictionary-thick books with foreign-looking titles that he was sure he could scarcely understand. A space-patterned bedspread adorned the corner of the room, closest to the door. And near the window, a heavy-looking desk was covered with computer chips, wires, and other mechanical devices that Gohan was scared to touch.

He checked the desk. It looked like there had once been a computer there, but it had been recently removed. _Not a good sign._ Sorting through the clutter, there were a few books, and, off in the corner, a small notepad.

Gohan's eyes darted to the notepad. Opening it up, it looked like an address book. Names and addresses of people were written neatly in alphabetical order. _Addresses! That could help! _He placed it in his pants pocket, excitedly. A clue! He'd found a clue! Bulma would want to see it. For a second, he was surprised that Maestro left such an important document in his room. But then he remembered, it wasn't like he knew they were after him. And besides, his room was most likely locked. He didn't expect anyone to be able to get in here.

If they didn't know where he was, at least some of the people on this list might know. Why else would he write their names down?

Gohan couldn't find anything else that would help them locate him. There were a lot of books about science and technology, but Bulma probably knew enough about that stuff, anyway. The only other things of notice were some framed photos, some awards he had won, and a bunch of comic books. That last one made him smile. _Of course he reads comic books. He can't be a nerd without it, can he?_

Feeling satisfied, Gohan was just about to exit through the bedroom door, until he realised the bathroom door was still locked from the inside_. _If he came out through the bedroom, the bathroom would still be locked, and no one would be able to open it. He needed to get back to the bathroom window…which meant going through the exterior of the house again. Luckily, there was more than one window in Maestro's bedroom. So he went to one of the windows that he didn't break, opened it, and flew out through there.

_Phew, that was close._ When he arrived back in the bathroom, he closed the window, trying to act like nothing had happened. He had been so worried people would see him flying around the house. What if they had security cameras? _I needed, like, an invisibility cloak or something._ That would have made things easier. Was that even possible? He needed to ask Bulma.

_Bulma! Right! She's still in the dining room!_ Gohan flushed the toilet – after all that, he actually _did_ need to pee – and opened the door, walking back to Bulma and Aria.

"I'm sorry I took so long," he apologised. He had to get it out of the way. If he paid attention to it, he wouldn't look as suspicious, would he?

"You don't need to apologise!" exclaimed Bulma. "It's fine."

"Did I miss anything?" he asked.

Bulma smiled. "Not really. We've actually been talking about our coffee preferences this whole time."

He groaned. That sounded boring.

Aria laughed. "Just wait until you're older. It's an acquired taste, I think."

Bulma looked at him. Gohan understood. If she had telepathy, she would be saying _did you get what we needed?_

He made a small, hardly noticeable nod.

Bulma seemed to get the message. After a few more minutes of discussion, she suddenly stood up.

"Well, it's been nice chatting with you, but it looks like we won't be able to talk to Maestro. It's probably best if we go back."

Gohan followed suit. "We're sorry for taking up your time like this."

"Ooh, no!" replied Aria. "It's always a pleasure, having distinguished guests like you. I promise to tell Maestro that you came. And I'll contact you as soon as he comes back home."

Bulma smiled. "That would be ever so helpful."

She motioned for them to leave.

* * *

"So, did you find anything?" asked Bulma, once they were safely in the helicopter, as they prepared to take off.

"I think so." Gohan pulled the address book out of his pocket and gave it to her.

Bulma's eyes lit up as she examined its contents. "This is great! It looks like these might be friends of his, or at least acquaintances. We can ask if they know where he is – as long as we have some kind of cover story. Did you have any difficulty getting there?"

"Not really," he admitted, a little embarrassed. "I sort of broke their window, but it's not too noticeable. At least, I hope not."

Bulma stared at him. Then she started to laugh.

"Oh, I can only imagine what Vegeta would have done!" she said.

_He probably would have destroyed half the house, or at least broken down the door._ Suddenly, Gohan understood why Bulma asked him specifically.

* * *

When they got back to Capsule Corp, Bulma immediately started photocopying the pages of the book. Once they were printed, she gave the copies to him.

"If we don't find anything, we might need the help of the authorities," she explained. "I know they have personal files on people. They might have information about him and his friends that we don't. If that happens…give these copies to them."

"But I thought you didn't want to get the police involved?"

Bulma sighed. "I didn't. But if we can't find him…I'm responsible for this, Gohan. I should have destroyed those blueprints. And the more I hear about Maestro, the more I'm convinced he's doing something with them. A police investigation into Capsule Corp is the least of our problems if he _does_ manage to make more Androids."

_Bulma's feeling guilty,_ he realised. _That's why she wants to find him so badly. This problem was all her fault._

"Do you need my help for anything else?" he asked. It felt like he was part of the 'case' now.

She smiled. "Not right now," she said. "But I'll contact you if I do. I have a lot more free time than you do, considering you have school and all. I'm going to start seeing if I can contact these people. If I find something, I'll tell you."

So Gohan left to go back home, feeling surprisingly self-satisfied. He had never done something like that before – something almost like detective work, even if he wasn't a detective. It had been rather difficult…but he couldn't deny that it had also been fun.

**[AN: Thanks to everyone reading! I'm sorry for saying this, but the next chapter might be a little delayed. Unfortunately, I think I've got an the worse disease known to fanfiction writers - writer's block. I know what's going to happen next, but there's going to be a little downtime before Bulma gives Gohan an update on the situation. My problem is working out what's going to happen during that downtime. I'm honestly open for suggestions! If you have a long idea, you can PM me instead.]**


	8. Reflections and Responsibility

**[AN: Hi, guys! Thanks so much for sticking with this story through its long hiatus! I don't think the schedule will be as regular anymore, but I think I have a better idea of what to do with it now. Hopefully.]**

Gohan was still thinking about Bulma's actions the rest of the day. It was just a thought that kept coming to his mind while he was outside, just watching the animals.

She felt responsible, and she had a good reason to. If she had destroyed the Android blueprints, none of this would have had to happen in the first place. Maestro wouldn't have found them. And if he was really doing something with them…who knew what he would be capable of? Although the boy was only 16, like him. Gohan couldn't imagine _himself _trying to take over the world, or something, even though he could.

Sometimes he had stupid thoughts like that. _I could take over the world if I wanted to._ Perhaps, if it were anyone else, they would be sorely tempted. But for him…Gohan _liked_ the world the way it was. And he wasn't sure he could trust himself enough to do an adequate job. He had failed so many times, what if he failed with ruling the world?

_I really need to start trusting myself,_ he thought. But that never seemed to happen. The doubts and uncertainties always clouded his actions. It was just so hard to imagine that he was competent in the first place. In a way, it was almost easier to imagine the worst-case scenarios. That way, if he did something wrong, he would be prepared for it.

A group of pterodactyls flew by, heading towards their nests.

It wasn't like they needed his own continual existence to keep on living. No matter how powerful Gohan was, whether he lived or died wouldn't make a difference to them.

Gohan suddenly snapped out of his tangent. _Of course that's not the case!_ He realised. _I'm not some sort of god. Even Dende…the world would continue without him, too. We just wouldn't have Dragon Balls._

He shook his head, absentmindedly. _It's not like I'm the centre of the universe. No one is, really…except perhaps Dad._

He stood up, and took to the air to go back home.

* * *

The next morning, Gohan woke up a bit earlier than usual. He went down to the kitchen to get something to eat, only to be surprised to see his father.

"Dad?" It was still a bit early in the morning. He was surprised someone else was awake. Gohan had a nasty habit of being an early riser. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, hi, Gohan," Goku replied. "I just woke up. I was just gonna go train."

For Gohan, hearing his father mentioning that he was going to go train was just like hearing him say, "I'm going to go to work." His friends kept mentioning how strange that was. Everyone else had a father who at least had an occupation.

But, then again, everyone else at school had a father who was _human_.

"Then…can I come with you?"

Goku frowned. "You wanna train with me?" He knew this wasn't a common occurrence. For the 2 months since he had been back, Gohan had only trained with him a few times. The usual excuse had been that he had been busy with homework. _Which was true,_ Gohan thought.

"Sure," Gohan replied. "Why not?"

He was just in the mood for it. There were times where he didn't want to fight at all, but today…he just felt like it. And training with his father was the best way. He wasn't worried if he hurt him. It wasn't like with Goten, where training was more of a teaching exercise. Goku was older, and still much more experienced, even if Gohan outclassed him in strength now.

Even back when he used to be alive, Gohan always treasured those training sessions. They may have been difficult, but they were often the closest times he ever shared with his father, once he was old enough to fend for himself.

As usual, they started off in their base forms. Years ago, it used to be a warm up before they went Super Saiyan. Of course, Gohan didn't need to go Super Saiyan anymore, but he still consciously held back to try and keep up with his father's blows. Despite this, Gohan needed to pay full attention. His father's fighting style seemed a little different to how it was before he died. Perhaps he had improved in the afterlife, changed his techniques slightly to suit his dead body. And even Gohan had changed. He hadn't thought about it before, but he knew he had grown a lot in the past 7 years. He was no longer the child that barely reached his father's chin. He was as tall as him now, and that almost took him by surprise.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't done something like this in a long while, but Gohan's mind was occupied with something else.

When he started getting tired out, they decided to take a break. And, in that brief period of silence, Gohan decided to ask his father something that had been bugging him.

"Dad?" he asked.

Goku looked up, surprised. "Huh?"

Gohan flew up to one of the cliffs, sitting down with his feet dangling over the edge. Goku followed him, a little confused.

"Dad…do you feel guilty?"

Goku scratched his head. "Guilty? What do you mean?"

"Do you feel guilty for staying alive? I mean, I remember why you decided to stay dead…"

"Oh!" Goku seemed to understand. But, in typical Goku fashion, he didn't seem sure on how to answer.

They stayed silent for a long while.

Finally, his father spoke up.

"I guess I do," he answered. "A little. If I _was_ still dead, the Earth wouldn't be in danger. But now….I don't have a choice, do I?"

"You mean, you would _want _to stay dead? If you had a choice?"

Goku shrugged. "Being dead sure makes it easier to train. I know I wouldn't have reached Super Saiyan 3 if I was alive."

"Oh."

Perhaps Gohan's expression had revealed too much, as Goku started to backpedal.

"I wouldn't want to die again, though!" he exclaimed. "I missed you all in the Otherworld."

Gohan blinked in surprise. For some reason, he wasn't expecting his father to say that.

"Even…even if that means the world could be in danger?" Gohan pressed, curious. "Wouldn't you be responsible for that?"

"I dunno," Goku ran his fingers through his wild, tangled hair. "I guess you could say it's…selfish? But…I wouldn't want to die. I don't want to die. I like being here, even if that means something could show up."

And that was the end of that.

Gohan smiled. His father really hadn't changed at all the past 7 years. Trying to talk to him about a serious topic…Goku would always come up with an easy answer. Or he'd simply say "I don't know." He wasn't the best in giving complicated solutions.

Sometimes, that was for the best.

"I was just thinking about it," mused Gohan, not minding whether his father was listening or not.

"Bulma was talking a lot about responsibility. Did you know she kept the blueprints for the Androids?"

"Really?" Goku was surprised. "What for?"

Gohan shrugged. "I dunno. But, either way, they got stolen, and now Bulma's really upset, and she's working really hard to try and find the person who stole them."

"Androids wouldn't be a threat, though," said Goku, dismissively. "I bet even the kids could take them on."

_That's just what Vegeta said,_ Gohan thought.

"It's just…I was thinking about responsibility. Bulma's feeling responsible, you can be responsible, I guess I'm responsible…we have this power, and we could do _anything_ with it. We could take over the world, or the universe, or something."

Goku frowned. "Take over the universe? We _could_ do that, but…I wouldn't want to. Kami taught me that being a ruler is really boring. You don't get to fight when you rule."

Gohan nodded. "That's true," he agreed. "And anyway, we didn't get stronger so we could rule others. We did it so we could keep peace."

"…although," Gohan continued, suddenly understanding. "Is that also ruling others? I mean, what if people didn't want peace, and we were forcing it on them? Even the fact that evil seems to be attracted to you…it's like, because we're powerful, responsibility gets handed to us, and we still end up influencing others. The world would be very different if we weren't around."

"It would probably be destroyed," said Goku simply.

"Yeah, it would be," agreed Gohan. "But…is it our power that attracts that sort of influence? Or is it the fact that we're trying to keep peace…does that make us more powerful? Power is more than just a number measured by those old scouters, right? Namek taught me that, more than anything."

As Gohan turned around, he noticed his father's blank stare.

"I don't know," answered Goku. "To be honest…I think you've gone beyond me, Gohan. I don't really know what you're saying."

Gohan sighed. "Don't worry, Dad. I don't really know what I'm saying, either."

* * *

Soon, the day ended, and it was time to start school for the next week.

As Gohan walked in through the front gates, his mood dropped. It would have to be another day without Videl. Unless she had decided to change her mind and _not_ be mad at him today, but he was pretty sure that wouldn't be the case. She would have called him if that was true.

As usual, the other students' gazes always seemed to follow him as he walked past. They were always watching him. It was like they were expecting him to screw up, and they wanted to see it first-hand when it happened. _Or maybe…_perhaps Sharpener was right. Perhaps it was because they were afraid of him. They always tried to avoid his gaze. When he looked at them, they quickly broke their stares and started occupying themselves with something else. But their faces didn't look like the faces of fear.

There was something else, _some_ reason that made them want to examine him, but Gohan just couldn't work out what it was.

Human emotions were so complex!

_If everyone in the world was like my father,_ Gohan thought, _things would be a lot easier._

"Hey, Gohan!"

A voice interrupted his inner monologue. Sharpener stood in front of him, waving.

"So, Videl's still not talking to you, eh?" asked Sharpener, as they started walking together through the hallways.

"I don't think so," Gohan sighed. "I would normally wait by her locker, but she's not there. Do you think she's avoiding me?"

Sharpener frowned. "Probably."

"How long is this going to last?" Gohan asked, desperately. "It's really lonely without her with us."

"I've got no idea," replied Sharpener, rolling his eyes. "Girls just do that."

Gohan started to open his locker, grabbing the books he would need that morning. Sharpener simply stood, watching him.

And then the two boys heard a high, female voice behind them. "Hey, guys! I was wondering where you were!"

They turned around, and realised it was Erasa, smiling.

Her presence confused Gohan. "Shouldn't you be with Videl?" he asked.

Erasa shrugged. "No one said I wasn't allowed to talk to _both_ of you."

That cheered him up.

"So, what did you guys do on the weekend?" asked Erasa, eager to get a conversation going.

Sharpener shrugged. "Did some training at the gym. Helped out in the house. The usual."

Erasa turned to Gohan. "What about you? How was the weekend without Videl?"

"It was alright," answered Gohan honestly. "I was helping Bulma on Saturday, and that was quite fun."

"Ooh!" exclaimed Erasa. "What kind of help?"

His friends' eyes turned to him eagerly. It was like they were expecting something exciting from him. And while he didn't fight any criminals, he had still enjoyed his role that weekend.

Gohan smiled. "It was really cool, actually. I was sort of being a detective. There was this person who Bulma wanted to find, and she needed some stuff, so I snuck into their room without them noticing."

"…that actually _is_ really cool," Sharpener admitted. "What did the guy do that made you need to find him?"

_He stole the blueprints for the Androids_, he thought_._ But something made Gohan pause from saying it out loud. Bulma didn't want this information to be spread around, and his friends…Gohan didn't trust them as much as Videl did. What if they accidentally let something slip?

Then they heard a sharp voice from across the hallway.

"Erasa! What are you doing?"

It was Videl, standing at the end of the hall with her hands on her hips.

_Videl…?_

Gohan turned to her. Had she finally stopped ignoring him?

Their eyes caught for just a glimpse…

…before Videl suddenly turned away. She seemed desperate to avoid his eye contact.

_So much for that._ It seemed like the weekend hadn't resolved any tension.

Erasa sighed. "I'd better go. I don't want to be seen as…what would you call it?"

"Fraternising with the enemy?" Gohan suggested.

Erasa giggled. "Yeah, that's it! You sure know what to say, Gohan. I'll see you guys soon!"

And she ran off.

Now he was alone with Sharpener again, and their conversation had dried up. Feelings of anxiety clawed at his stomach. Now that Videl was gone, and Erasa was gone…_What if Sharpener doesn't like me? I don't want him to not be friends with anyone else, just because of me._ Gohan was responsible for too much as it is.

They continued walking for a while, before Gohan decided to finally take control and say it.

"You know, Sharpener," Gohan started.

Sharpener turned to face him. "What?"

"You don't have to keep hanging out with me, if you don't want to."

His friend frowned. "Why wouldn't I want to?"

"Oh, it's just…" Gohan stammered. "If you wanted to hang out with someone else…some of them don't seem to like me, so if you wanted to be friends with them, maybe…"

Sharpener seemed to understand. Gohan was expecting he would consider it, but Sharpener just laughed it off.

"It's fine, I like hanging out with you!" he said, casually.

"And, besides," he added, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. "They wouldn't let me back."

_Huh? _"What do you mean, 'let me back'?"

But then their conversation was interrupted by the school bell.

Sharpener grinned eagerly. "Saved by the bell," he said, hurriedly. "Well, I've got to go! Seeya!"

And as he bounded off, he remarked, "Try not to beat anyone up!"

Gohan just stopped, staring at Sharpener's back.

"I wasn't going to," he replied softly.

He knew Sharpener intended it as a joke, but…Gohan still didn't like it.

* * *

And so, the day passed as usual. Gohan stood next to Sharpener, now starting to get used to Videl's absence. Sharpener was confident that this would sort itself out, and Erasa seemed hopeful, too.

"I was talking to her all last night," she told them at lunch, once they were out of earshot of Videl. "Like, I know she's upset, but I don't think she's upset at _you_. She's mad at _herself._"

Gohan shook his head. "But this isn't her fault."

"I think she's trying to blame herself, though," Erasa replied, staring at Videl sadly. "She's trying to say that it's her fault for trying to work out who you were in the first place."

"Right," said Sharpener, understanding. "If she didn't care about trying to stalk you, then she wouldn't have known who you were. And she wouldn't know about the whole…alien thing."

Gohan frowned. That seemed wrong. Sure, Videl may have poked her nose into their business, but…if they were playing the blame game here, it was his fault most of all.

Videl, Bulma…why did it seem like everyone's problems always linked back to them?

* * *

That night, while everyone was having dinner, the phone rang.

"Who would that be?" Goku frowned, abruptly stopping his meal. "Is it something important?"

Chi-Chi picked it up, and, after a few seconds, smiled and gave it to Gohan.

"It's Bulma again," she explained. "What are you doing, anyway?"

_Looking for Androids_, Gohan thought. But he didn't say it out loud. He just picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Gohan." Bulma sounded a little stressed. "There's some bad news on the Maestro situation."

That wasn't good. "What's happening?"

"Well, I went through the book, ringing up the phone numbers. Those that answered told me that they hadn't seen Maestro for a few months, and…there were a couple of people that didn't answer at all. And I rang multiple times!"

Things were getting serious. "We can't jump to conclusions, though, can we?"

"No, of course not," replied Bulma.

She continued. "Anyway, after that, I decided to visit the addresses of the people who didn't pick up. Today I just went to one of them– which seemed to be occupied by two of his friends - and they weren't there. I asked one of the people in the unit, and they said they had left about a week ago."

"There weren't any clues as to where they had gone?"

"Not unless I snuck in. But, let's be honest. If Maestro didn't give any indication as to where he went, why would his friends?"

"So you think they went with Maestro."

"That's what my gut is telling me. It's too much of a coincidence."

Then she sighed. "And the second problem is…there's one last person in the book who I haven't been able to contact. I've got a name, and a phone number, but not an address. Where the address should normally be, there's just a comment that says 'Moves around a lot'."

"That's not very helpful."

Now that he thought about it, Gohan _did_ remember reading that. He wasn't concerned about it at the time, but if they needed to find this person…

"So…Gohan?" asked Bulma.

She stayed quiet for a while, before finally saying, "We might need the police's help for this."

Gohan was worried it would come to that. "What should we do? Tell them that Maestro's gone missing?"

"I…don't know," she replied, sounding surprisingly apprehensive. Once this conversation was over, Bulma would go straight for a cigarette, Gohan knew.

"The easiest way to find this person's address is to get the police files on them. It would just be easier if the authorities didn't know the details. I don't want to _steal_ them. I just wish…I wish we had a mole there. Someone on our side, who could get the information without alerting the others. You don't know anyone like that, do you? That's why I called."

"No," he replied. "I don't know any police officers. Well…except one,"

Then he remembered Bayonet. He seemed like a nice guy. He knew Videl. And he knew that he was the Great Saiyaman, and didn't have a problem with it.

"Actually…" Gohan had an idea. "Maybe we _could_ have a mole."

**[AN: Do you guys want a writing challenge? Try to write a scene with Goku whilst still making it subtle. It's really, really difficult.]**


	9. New Players

"Listen," said Bayonet. "I can't just look up their files for you. That stuff is strictly used for police business. I could lose my job if they found out, or at least get suspended!"

After school had finished, Gohan had decided to visit Bayonet in his office and ask him for help. The man's refusal was disappointing, but not too surprising. While Bayonet seemed like a nice guy, he was also a police officer. He would be the last person to break the rules, even if he wanted to help.

"Is there any way you can do it?" Gohan asked, thinking. "Perhaps, if you made the break-in a police investigation…"

Bayonet looked at him seriously. "I could do that," he said. "But there's no reason to. When you first told me about this, I just thought it was stolen paperwork. Nothing serious."

He gave him a meaningful glance. "But the way you're asking me makes me think that it's more important than just paperwork."

Gohan looked away, not wanting to give anything away in his expression. Bulma didn't want him to tell them the truth, if possible.

"Gohan," said Bayonet. "If you want me to help you, you'll have to tell me what was in those documents. I can't just keep doing this blindly. I need to know why you want to find this guy so badly."

"I…"

Bayonet seemed to notice his hesitation. "If you don't want to tell me, that's your decision. But I won't help you unless you explain the truth. It's as simple as that."

Then they heard footsteps, and a female voice, chatting excitedly. "Hey, Bayonet! You wouldn't _believe_ what I just did! See, I was just visiting my grandma, and-"

And there, obliviously entering the room, was Videl. She looked quite pleased with herself. Then she noticed him, and her smile immediately dropped.

"Videl?" he asked, astonished. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? What are _you_ doing here?"

Unfortunately, Bayonet explained the situation to her. "Gohan wants me to search up some people in the police files. I was just telling him that's practically illegal, unless you have a proper warrant."

Videl looked puzzled. "Why do you want to do that?"

"I was just asking him that," explained Bayonet. "But he doesn't want to tell me the reason."

Gohan looked away, self-consciously. Perhaps this was a bad idea. It might have been better to just tell the police directly, not go to a friend. What was he thinking, getting a mole? This wasn't some sort of spy novel!

He took a few steps back, unsure of whether to leave or not.

But then Videl seemed to understand. She turned to him, concern clearly evident on her face.

"Gohan," she said. "You have to tell him."

"B-but-"

"I know you," she said. "You're not normally this serious. Which means something _really_ bad is happening. Don't just ignore us."

Gohan looked from Videl to Bayonet and back again.

Bulma didn't want everyone to know. _He_ didn't want everyone to know. But, at the same time…the pressure of this sort of responsibility was building up inside him. He didn't want to keep doing this on his own.

He sighed. "Alright." If that was the only way for them to take this seriously, he'd have to do it.

He reflexively looked around the police station. Around Bayonet's small office, it was deserted. _Thank goodness. _It would make it a lot easier if he knew they weren't being overheard.

"The documents stolen from Capsule Corp," Gohan explained. "…they're blueprints."

"Blueprints, huh?" Bayonet looked at him with curiosity, his imagination seemingly going into overdrive. "What for, exactly?"

Gohan took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing._ "Human augmentation," he said. That's what the technology was called, he remembered. "_Robotic_ human augmentation."

"You mean, like, cyborgs?" asked Bayonet.

"Yes."

Both Bayonet and Videl seemed stunned into silence. And then Bayonet whistled in amazement. "No wonder they didn't want to tell us," he said, almost amused. "So, you're telling me Capsule Corp has an army of cyborgs?"

"No way!" Gohan exclaimed. Why did they always assume the worst of them? "They only took those blueprints so they could stop _others_ from making them!"

Videl seemed to be remembering the stories Gohan had told her. "These cyborgs…were they the Androids you told me about?"

Gohan nodded. "It's very…_very _important. If this technology is duplicated, the cyborgs have enough power to destroy the world."

He still remembered Future Trunks' warning. In his world, the androids had killed everyone…even that world's version of himself. That fact always made him shiver. In that world, he was dead, and there was no way to bring him back.

Bayonet stared, shocked. "Why didn't you tell anyone else about this? We need to get all forces looking for it!"

"No!" Gohan stopped him. "It's fine. I can _deal_ with this. I just need to know where this guy is, and the police files might help. After that, you don't need to worry about it."

Bayonet didn't look like he believed him. "You're saying they could destroy the world, and that's _not_ a 'big deal'? I know you want to prove yourself, but that sounds like it's beyond even _your_ league. You're just a kid."

_You've got to be kidding me. What do I have to do, prove it to him? _He wasn't used to people doubting him. _Just a kid_…when was the last time someone had used that excuse? He couldn't remember. In fact, he didn't know if anyone had _ever_ told him that.

But then he heard a dark, slow laugh.

It was Videl.

"Trust me, Bayonet," she said, smirking. "This isn't a problem for Gohan. You don't need to worry about him. If he needs your help…

Bayonet seemed deep in thought.

"Is this some kind of superhero thing?" he asked.

_Not exactly._ "Sort of," Gohan replied. It wasn't the whole truth, but Bayonet…Gohan barely knew him. He wasn't going to start blabbing out all of their secrets. Surely Bayonet would understand. Right?

"I think I know what this is about," said Videl. "And I'm sure he doesn't need the police force to help. In fact, that would probably get in the way, wouldn't it?"

Gohan nodded. What could humans do against Androids? Next to nothing.

"That's why he went to you," she explained. "He doesn't want everyone knowing because that would just make it worse."

Eventually, Bayonet threw his hands up in resignation. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Really?" Gohan was surprised.

"Really. But if you find any incriminating evidence…you don't have to do this on your own. Heck, you _shouldn't_ be doing this in the first place. This is our job."

Gohan tried to suppress his chokes of laughter. _It's funny, having people think I'm not competent. That hasn't happened…since before Cell, really._

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Vegeta used to chew him out over not training, but that had only been happening recently. No one had denied that he was still strong enough to deal with any threat.

And now that his potential was unlocked, there wasn't any reason to say he wasn't strong enough.

"You know, you owe me something," said Bayonet. "This is practically illegal, searching them up without an official warrant."

Videl's face lit up. "Oh, thanks, Bayonet!"

Gohan followed suit. "I really appreciate it."

He decided to give Bayonet Bulma's phone number. He agreed to call her if he found any useful information.

* * *

As Gohan left the building, Videl abruptly stopped him outside.

"So," she said, her expression lethal. "Are you going to explain what that was about?"

"It's none of your business," he rebutted. He was supposed to give her space, after all. And the Androids were out of her league.

He tried to walk past her, but she grabbed onto his arm.

"Yes, it is!" she exclaimed, looking...surprisingly concerned. "If this guy is trying to…take over the world, or something, then it _is _my business. It's _everyone's _business!"

He sighed. "I don't think he's going to take over the world," he admitted. "But he's definitely got things he shouldn't have."

"Well, you're going to have to tell me all about it," she demanded.

Gohan raised an eyebrow. "You mean you want to be involved in this? But I thought we had broken up?"

When a couple broke up, they didn't talk to each other like friends, did they? Let alone help each other like this.

Videl stared at him, blankly. "You're so naïve, Gohan," she sighed. "Just because we've broken up, doesn't mean I don't want to help you."

"Really?" Now he was curious.

"Really," she agreed. "If what you're saying is true…this is more important than stupid arguments. I'm helping you, no matter what you say."

_Videl can be so pushy sometimes,_ he thought. But he still appreciated the help. He wasn't sure what Videl could do, but it was better than nothing.

* * *

Perhaps getting those files was more complicated for Bayonet than expected. Either way, several days passed without any updates. Gohan simply went about his business, sometimes wondering if they were going to find new information. He was confident Bayonet wasn't going to dob them in. As much as he knew this was dangerous, he knew what Gohan was capable of. Perhaps he had realised that they _would_ just get in the way if they tried to interfere.

But one good thing had come out from this whole situation – Videl had started speaking to him again.

The next day, once he returned to school, Gohan had started getting his stuff out of his locker when Erasa came up to him. And…Videl was with her!

"Did Bayonet get the information yet?" she asked eagerly.

"Not yet," he replied. "But I think he said he'd tell Bulma first."

Erasa and Sharpener just looked at them like they had suddenly sprouted extra heads.

"What were you guys _doing_ yesterday?" Erasa exclaimed.

Videl's eyes narrowed. "Don't get me wrong," she snapped to her friends. "We're not dating or anything. We've just got…a common interest right now."

Sharpener chuckled. "Well, thank god for that."

So, with that, everything was a lot easier. Videl wasn't ignoring him anymore. It was still a little rocky between them. If he looked at her for a bit too long, she would quickly turn away, like she didn't want him to think that she had stopped being upset.

Another thing that Gohan had been noticing was he had been getting some unusual stares, mostly from their classmate Compass. By now, he had been used to the stares and the constant muttering, but there was something about the intensity of Compass's gaze that made him take note. It was almost like…hatred. He almost wanted to confront him and ask what his problem was, but…what if that started a fight?

_They wouldn't fight me,_ he remembered. _They're scared of me, aren't they?_

If they ever did decide trying to rough him up would make them feel better, it would be the worse mistake they ever made. Surely they knew that.

Not for the first time, Gohan reflected how much easier it would have been if he had simply kept his strength a secret.

* * *

A few days later, Bulma called yet again.

"Come to my office," she simply said. "We've got a new update."

And while the seriousness of her tone surprised Gohan a little…it also made him excited. This felt like a _real_ job! A real, complicated detective work! Just like in books and movies, but it was real!

_And if we fail, more Androids could destroy the world. Or at least try to._

No wonder Bulma was being so serious.

When Gohan arrived at Bulma's office, he was surprised to see not only Bulma, but Bayonet, too. The officer was surveying the Capsule Corp interior with astonishment. Clearly, this was the first time he had been here before, and the sheer scale of the building surprised even him.

"What are you doing here?" Gohan asked.

"What do you mean?" replied Bayonet. "Did you forget who risked his job to get the information for you guys?"

_Oh._ Gohan had almost forgotten about that.

"We really do appreciate it," said Bulma. "I'm sure we could have gotten it through other sources, but this is just the easiest. And the most legal."

Bayonet raised his eyebrows. "If this is the _most_ legal method, I'm curious what other methods you were going to use. Although, now, I doubt anything would surprise me."

Bulma turned to Gohan, and quickly added, "I told Bayonet about the Androids – how I got the blueprints and all that. So you don't need to worry about keeping it a secret."

"Oh." Gohan breathed a silent sigh of relief. It felt so much more comfortable, knowing he had one less secret to keep inside.

Still, Bayonet wasn't looking at him in any significant way, which made Gohan think that Bulma didn't tell him about any of the…Saiyan stuff.

Gohan was thankful for that.

"I'd heard of the Red Ribbon Army before," commented Bayonet. "Mostly just stories, considering it was before my time. But I didn't know the survivors were such nutjobs. And how their reign ended…I always thought the claim that they were defeated by a little boy was nothing more than a police folk tale."

_A police folk tale?_ The phrasing of that…it gave Gohan a mental image of policemen standing by the fire in their uniforms, discussing stories with banjos in hand. That made him chuckle a bit.

"Well, it's true," said Bulma. "Like I said, I knew…I mean, I _know_ that boy. And his son is standing right in front of you."

Bayonet's eyes widened in surprise. He turned to Gohan. "That kid is your father?"

Gohan nodded. His father didn't tell him much about the Red Ribbon Army, but in the way he described it, it seemed like they were just…in the way. That was the only reason why he had stopped them in the first place. They had the Dragon Balls, and Goku decided to use the wish for his friends. But compared to what he had had to face later on in life…the biggest threat Goku had faced was Tao Pai Pai. And he wasn't even part of the Red Ribbon Army itself!

Of course, the Androids were on a completely different league.

"I was just explaining to Bulma what was going on. I managed to look up these guys for you – which was a lot more difficult than you'd think, so I better get some credit for that. There wasn't much about Maestro that you guys didn't know – child prodigy, graduated college at 15, all that. Two of his friends, Percus and Woody, apparently went to the same college as he did. But I did end up looking for the girl. This-" he looked at the sheet of paper they had been examining. "-Sonata Treble. And we found out why she was so hard to find."

Gohan raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to go on.

"She's from the circus."

_The circus? _That was the last thing Gohan had _ever_ expected! For him, the circus was like a fantasy – he never imagined it actually existing outside of his books. It wasn't like he had ever gone to it before. After all, there was no possible way it would perform close to their house. They lived way too far away.

Bulma continued. "Bayonet has managed to find out where the circus is staying at the moment. Apparently, they don't have a performance up, but there are several locations that they stay during off-seasons like this. Now that we know, we can go and look for Sonata. If it's anything like Percus and Woody, she might already be gone. But, either way, it wouldn't hurt to check it out. After all, if Maestro wanted to hide, what better place than the circus?"

She looked around guiltily. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to check tomorrow. I've organised a meeting with one of Maestro's professors from his college. I wanted to know more about him – to see if he's the type of kid who would actually start building Androids. I always say, 'a little knowledge can go a long way'."

"I can go tomorrow," said Gohan, eager to please. "I don't have anything to do, really. If we split up…wouldn't that make it easier?"

"On your own?" Bulma frowned.

She stopped, thinking it over.

_Does she not trust me?_

"I can handle it," said Gohan firmly, trying to convince her. "I just need to look for Sonata, right? And ask her if she knows where Maestro is?"

But Bulma still looked anxious.

"I know you can handle it," she said. "It's just…I'd feel better if you were going with company. This isn't something you've done before. You need to make sure you don't reveal too much, especially to Sonata. What if she knows where Maestro is, and she decides to warn him?"

"I would help you if I could," added Bayonet. "But I have a job, you know. And besides, I wouldn't want to be seen on an unofficial investigation. We don't want to raise any more suspicions."

"Is there anyone who you trust to come with you?" asked Bulma. "I know you could ask Goku, but he'd probably do something stupid…maybe you could ask Krillin? I just don't want this information to be spread too far. This is my fault as it is. We don't need _everyone_ else involved."

That was a good idea. He could go with Krillin. Gohan honestly felt Bulma was right. He would be more comfortable with a partner. He still felt like he was terrible at lying. Videl always told him that…wait, that was it!

"Videl!" he cried. "I told Videl about it, and she said she wanted to help. She can come with me!"

Of course, they weren't exactly dating at the moment, but…who really cared? If Videl demanded to know the details, he would tell them to her, whether she wanted to keep her distance or not!

…_That sounded really unlike me,_ he thought. Perhaps Videl's recklessness was rubbing off on him.

Bulma paused, in thought.

"That _could_ work," she decided. "But if it's too difficult for you…you don't _have_ to go. I'll just go the day after tomorrow."

Gohan shook his head. "No. I'm helping. I _want_ to help."

"Well, then," Bulma replied. "You should make sure Videl knows. If you want to go tomorrow, you'd better tell her quickly."

"Right!"

Enthusiastically, Gohan bounded out of the building.

Watching Gohan leave, Bayonet frowned.

"He's a strange one, that kid," he commented.

Bulma chuckled. "You should see his father. Out of all of them, Gohan's the _most_ ordinary."

The officer didn't know how to react to that.

* * *

Once Gohan arrived home, he called Videl, still a little anxious. She said she wanted to know all the details, but…that didn't mean she was going to accept. What if she did some annoying girl thing, like hang up while he was talking? With Videl, _especially_ when she was in a bad mood, it was impossible to know how she would react.

Eventually, the call connected, and Videl's voice came through the phone.

"Gohan?" she seemed surprised.

_It's too late to back out now._

"Do you still want to help?" he asked.

**[AN: You know, Videl visiting her grandmother and Bulma visiting the college professor are separate stories in amongst themselves. I don't know if I'm going to put them in the story right now. Perhaps they'll be bonus chapters?]**


	10. Trip to the Circus

"Sonata Treble. What a stupid name," Videl snapped.

Gohan and Videl were walking towards the circus. They had flown to an area about 10 minutes walk away, and had been walking from there. Videl had explained that, if they were gathering information, it would be best if they tried to act as _normal_ as possible. And that meant as little flying as necessary.

He had been surprised how eager she had been to help. All it had taken was the one phone call, and she had immediately decided to come with him.

But in the meantime, Videl had gone on a tirade about Sonata's name. He didn't fully understand her annoyance.

"First of all, she has a last name," Videl continued. "I mean, how many people have last names? I'll tell you: people who want to act like they're all special."

_I have a last name,_ Gohan thought, sheepishly. But Videl wasn't exactly happy with him at the moment, was she?

"And second of all…both her names are music-themed."

"Music-themed?" asked Gohan. He hadn't thought of that.

Videl turned to him. "Of course," she replied, matter-of-factly. "A sonata is a type of song. And treble…it's like 'treble clef'. Like what they put on a score."

Gohan frowned. "How do you know all this?" It didn't seem like her.

"I played piano for a year."

"You did?" he asked, astonished. "I didn't know that!"

She nodded. "My mum used to play piano before she died, so they thought I should try. But I found it boring, so I stopped."

That sounded a bit more like her. They continued walking in silence.

Then, for some reason, Videl grinned.

"Hey, Gohan?" she asked, still smiling. "Did _you_ ever play an instrument?"

It was such an out-of-left-field question.

"I think my mother wanted me to," he answered, thinking about it. There was a time – it must have been before the Androids arrived – where Chi-Chi tried to make him take up the violin. It didn't last long, though.

"But she eventually decided to give it up. I mean…I…I'd probably break it."

"…_oh._" Videl seemed to understand.

"And instruments are expensive," he continued on. "It wouldn't be worth it to keep replacing them."

It made him appreciate all of the things he had missed out on. Playing an instrument, that was one of them. But there were so many other things he never experienced. Things he could only read about. Sure, most of the time there were legitimate reasons to it – why would you bother learning how to ride a bike if you can fly? But if he wasn't part of the Son family…his life would have been very different.

But then Videl suppressed a giggle.

"It's a shame," she said. "If you learnt an instrument…you could have played the Piccolo."

Gohan groaned. "Very funny," he said, sarcastically.

"What, have you heard that joke before?"

"More times than you can count."

How many times had he had to explain that 'Piccolo' meant 'Another World' in Namekian? He almost wanted to tell Videl the truth, but seeing her expression, he realised she probably didn't care.

As they got closer to the destination, Gohan suddenly understood why Bulma would have difficulty finding it. It was a rather nondescript, tall building. A small sign announced that this was their headquarters for certain months of the year, when they didn't have performances. If Gohan didn't know where to look, he was sure he would have passed right by it.

* * *

The circus headquarters felt both cluttered and organised. People were constantly darting around– moving equipment, costumes, and what looked like stage props. The carpet around them was worn and faded from the footsteps of all the people they must have had here over the years.

Looking at the map Bulma had given him, it looked like the living quarters were at the back of the building. He and Videl walked along, easily blending in amongst the multitude of people. No one seemed to wonder why they were there, and Gohan was thankful for that.

Arriving at the living quarters, apartments were subdivided neatly, seemingly going in every direction. Seeing the magnitude of it, Gohan's heart dropped. How long was it going to take them to find where Sonata lived?

But then Videl went in front of him. "There's names here," she said, pointing to the faded signs hanging from the door. "We just need to find where hers is."

So they went from room to room, searching for a 'Sonata', or, if not, a 'Treble'. Despite Videl's previous assertions, it looked like last names were relatively popular amongst the circus folks. Her words echoed in his head. _How many people have last names? I'll tell you: people who want to act like they're all special._ Perhaps, in the circus, that was a common occurrence. After all, wasn't that the whole point of the circus? To show people who were special? Gohan wasn't sure. It wasn't like he had seen a performance before.

They finally found the room that said 'Treble'.

"Here goes nothing."

Gohan knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, a man opened the door.

He frowned. "Who are you?"

Videl decided to take charge. "Hi," she said. "We were looking for your daughter. Is she here?"

He shook his head. "She hasn't been here for the past week. What do you need her for?"

_She's not here, either?_ That was disappointing. But Gohan wouldn't give up that easily.

"We're looking for someone else," he explained. "Maestro. We think your daughter might know him and where he's gone."

The Treble father's eyes lit up. "Maestro? I remember him!"

"What? You do?" asked Videl.

"He's one of Sonata's best friends. Practically her boyfriend."

_Boyfriend?_ That was the last thing Gohan was expecting. Somehow, he didn't think someone like Maestro would even have a girlfriend.

"That's…unusual," he said. "How did they even meet?"

The father smiled. "It's a long story. But if you're looking for him…I can tell you what I know. What are you kids, police or something?"

Gohan fidgeted, unsure of how to word it. "We're looking…on behalf of someone else."

"Undercover, eh? I guess a bunch of kids would be pretty useful for undercover work. I doubt people would look twice."

_We're not undercover,_ Gohan was about to interrupt. Then he saw Videl's hostile expression. _Say nothing,_ it felt like she was saying.

The father gestured them into the cabin. It was very crowded – full of costumes, makeup, and photographs. Lots of photographs. They took up almost the entire walls – photographs of this man, his wife, and above all, photos of a young girl. _This must be Sonata,_ Gohan thought, examining them carefully. In the photos, she was quite young, elaborately dressed in a sequined leotard and matching headdress. There were also photos of the family together, not in any sort of costume. It gave Gohan a sense of nostalgia. They all looked so happy.

The father pulled up two chairs for them to sit down in. Clearly, he was expecting to be talking for a while.

"It all started a few years ago," he started. "Sonata was in the acrobatics act. She was _good_, too, so good that the guys decided to give her a leading role."

"You must have been proud," commented Videl.

He nodded eagerly. "Of course I was! I would say her talent's in the blood, but… Sonata's a hard worker. She didn't get where she was from natural talent alone."

"Anyway, Maestro was in the audience for one of the shows. Sonata was 10, he would be around 9-ish. The kid was so impressed by what she did that he ran backstage during the intermission, desperately trying to find her. He wanted to know how what she did was 'physically possible'."

Videl smiled. "Makes sense. For a kid, seeing the acrobats would have looked like magic."

_I doubt I would have been impressed,_ Gohan thought. _I probably could have done better._ In a way, it was disappointing. He had seen wonders and terrors that normal people would never have dreamed of. Nothing a human could do would impress him anymore.

"The guys were about to tell the little kid to leave – backstage was off-limits, after all – but Sonata stopped them. She thought Maestro was interesting. And it's true that I've never met anyone with the guts of that boy. I'm sure he knew he wasn't supposed to be there, and yet he was willing to break the rules to catch a glimpse of my daughter."

"It almost sounds like he was in love with her," Gohan realised. It sounded like what his mother had done. She had gone out to the tournament just to find his father, on the off-chance that he might have been there.

The Treble chuckled. "He might have been. Although, keep in mind, he was quite young. Either way, he was enraptured by Sonata. And she found that fascinating. They spent the second half of the show backstage, just talking and playing with each other."

"Of course, the show soon ended, and Maestro's parents came to bring him home. It seemed like their friendship would a brief one. Sonata lived with us in the circus, and he lived in the city. It would be hard for them to see each other again."

"But then, about a year later – I remember it was just after the Cell Games-"

Gohan stiffened at mention of the Cell Games. It was strange, hearing normal people talk about it, with no understanding of the truth.

"- and the circus had decided to come back to the city. We were kind of jumping on the bandwagon of Mr. Satan's triumph. Everyone was in a mood for celebration. Popularity for attractions like these skyrocketed."

He gave Videl a meaningful glance. "I'm sure _you'd _know more than anything."

_So he _does_ know who Videl is,_ Gohan thought. Initially, it seemed like he hadn't.

"The first show was completely sold out. Sonata had her few minutes in the spotlight. And, during the interval, Maestro came running backstage again. He must have seen the advertisements, and pestered for his parents to go so he could see my daughter again."

"I remember he was yelling for her, demanding to know if she knew who that little kid was in the Cell Games. Do you remember him? That little blonde kid who tried to fight Cell for a while."

Gohan froze. _They were talking about me? They were looking for me?_ He knew people would have wanted to know who he was, but he hadn't heard of people trying to discover his identity.

"Why would Maestro think that?" asked Videl. "What does the circus have to do with the Cell Games?"

"Nothing, really. But I guess he assumed those guys from the footage were circus folk. After all, a lot of their stuff looked like circus tricks – light shows and choreography and all that."

_They're not 'circus tricks',_ Gohan thought, angrily. Was there _anyone_ who hadn't believed Mr. Satan's lies?

"But after that, my wife and I, and Maestro's parents, realised it would be beneficial if the two kids kept in touch. Sonata's always been a bit lonely when it comes to kids her age, and I think Maestro was like that as well. Isn't he some kind of robotics prodigy?"

Gohan nodded. _So it's definitely the same guy that we're after._

"After Sonata decided to quit performing 3 years ago, they've been in touch more often."

"3 years ago?" asked Gohan. "But she must have still been young…"

"She was," the Treble agreed. "But she decided she didn't want to perform anymore. I think she was just burned out. You see that a lot in child stars – after a few years, they can just lose their motivation for performing. My wife and I knew this could happen, so we weren't so disappointed. The only strange thing was Sonata still kept up her practice, even nowadays. She didn't want to lose her skills. She took pride in her abilities."

_That's interesting,_ Gohan thought. But then he remembered what he was there for.

"So, Sonata knows Maestro very well…"

The father nodded. "And you're looking for him? I do know they have some sort of club. What was it called? It was something music-themed."

He scratched his head.

Then he remembered. "Opus, that's it!" he exclaimed. "If Maestro's gone, and Sonata's gone with him…it's probably something Opus-related."

"What sort of club is this?" asked Videl.

He smiled. "I honestly don't know. They've been meeting up quite a lot recently, though."

Gohan stood up. "Well, if you don't know where they went…maybe we should go."

The man frowned. "Already? But surely this is your first time! While you're here, you might as well come and watch us practice. I think they're doing trapeze rehearsals."

Videl's eyes lit up in excitement. "That sounds cool!" she said.

Gohan hesitantly agreed. It wasn't like it could hurt.

* * *

He guided them up a few flights of stairs, towards what must have been a training room. Trapezes were adorned from the ceilings, but the room itself was very plain, and there were several safety nets preventing falling-related injuries. The circus performers, looking very mundane in ordinary gym clothes, were taking turns practicing their swings. Most of them were young women and girls, but there were a few muscular men in the roster, as well.

One by one, they flew around the ceiling, clearly comfortable with the small piece of wood and string that was their only method of support. They reminded Gohan of little monkeys, swinging from tree to tree. And…did he also do that, back when he still had his tail? He was so young, he could barely remember.

But Gohan wasn't amazed, like Videl was. He was sure if he tried the trapeze out, it would be easy for him. But it wasn't like there was a point to trying. He could fly. Why bother with aiming for an illusion of flight when you could do the real thing, and easily?

So Gohan stared at them without truly registering it. He was thinking of something else.

It was their casual mention of the Cell Games. Maestro and Sonata had been talking about _him_. And it probably wasn't just them. There were plenty of people who saw him fight. Gohan just hadn't expected people would discuss it. He hadn't expected them to remember it.

It was such a strange feeling, having people mention him. It made him feel like…some sort of celebrity. He'd never felt like that before. People staring at him at school was one thing, but having a person he'd never met before casually talk about him…

Was he a celebrity? He certainly didn't feel like one. And he wasn't sure if he wanted to be one. In books, celebrities were harassed by paparazzi wherever they went. Every small action he took would be scrutinised. Perhaps it wasn't that bad in reality. Videl was pretty famous, and she seemed to manage. But Gohan loved the feeling of being out of the spotlight. That feeling where no one was judging him.

It was just so new to him, seeing how his actions had affected other people. When he fought Cell, he hadn't been thinking of all the people of Earth. He had been thinking about his friends and family, and how he didn't want them to be killed. It was the same with Majin Buu. He fought because Gotenks had failed, and he needed to protect them. But it wasn't just about them. There were…billions of people in the world, and what he had done had changed their lives immensely. Gohan had never understood the significance of it before. But now, being immersed in 'normal' human life, he saw it all the time.

Videl sat down beside him.

"Pretty crazy, huh?" she said.

Gohan shrugged.

Videl seemed to understand. "I guess, for you, something like this isn't that cool."

"Not really," he said honestly. It wasn't particularly on the forefront of his mind.

That made conversation dry up.

They sat there in silence for a while, until Gohan decided to ask her something. "Videl?"

She turned to look at him. "What is it?"

The words came from him, almost unbidden. "Was everyone talking about me? Back then?" He needed validation. Maestro and Sonata couldn't have been the only ones.

Videl grimaced, not wanting to answer. At that moment, she must have understood what was going through his mind.

"Yes," she said softly. Then she became more animated. "Especially the boys. They wouldn't shut up about you, I swear! It got me really pissed off. This was supposed to be about my father. Why were people caring so much about some stupid kid?"

"So, you didn't like me?"

"Of course not!" Videl snapped. "I used to think you were so nosy – you, and your friends. Butting into a fight that I thought wasn't about you."

_And then, she ended up dating 'that kid'._ Then Gohan remembered they weren't technically dating anymore.

"But everyone else…they all liked me."

"Yeah, because…" Videl froze in realisation. "…they were _jealous_ of you. You were fighting Cell. And the stuff you did was incredible. My father denied it. Adults were sceptical. But the kids believed it. They wanted to believe it was real. They wanted to be just like you."

"But…I'm not a role model!" Gohan protested, feeling pressured. "I'm just a guy who was born into the right family. If any of them had Son Goku for a father, I'm sure they'd act in the same way."

Suddenly, Videl became annoyed. "Ugh! Stop being like that!" she exclaimed. "Stop undermining yourself! You can't say everything you've done comes from Goku. It doesn't. What about that whole 'you had the power within you all along'?"

At first Gohan was confused, but then he remembered. It was how he had described to her his power-up from the Elder Kai.

And perhaps she was right. He was the strongest in the universe. Again. But in the end, that hadn't mattered. He had still failed, and he had still died.

He started to argue. "I don't know-"

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two girls walking up to them. He recognised them as some of the first performers to take a turn on the trapeze. They looked about their age.

He stopped talking. This wasn't the kind of conversation to be overheard.

"Hi!" said one of the girls. "What are you guys doing here? Tourists?"

"Actually, no," explained Gohan, formally. "We're looking for someone here."

"Sonata Treble," Videl clarified.

The two girls frowned.

"She's not here," one of them said. "Probably off with her boyfriend or something. Why are you looking for her?"

_Um…_How would he explain it without it sounding weird?

Videl stepped in for him. "It's kind of a long story," she said.

The shorter one sighed. "Well, be our guest. Just warning you, though…"

She examined her surroundings, making sure no one was in earshot. Satisfied no one would hear, she whispered, "She's kind of a bitch."

"Really?" asked Videl, surprised.

"Oh, yeah," agreed the other girl. "She's a bit of a loner a lot of the time. Besides her boyfriend, she doesn't hang out with many kids. Not even us. Probably thinks she's too good for us."

"And she's _really_ good," the first girl continued. "I see her practicing a lot. She's easily the most talented performer here. I don't get why she stopped."

"Also, Sonata's kind of scary sometimes," added the second girl. "One time, I made a joke about her geek boyfriend, and I must have insulted her or something. Before I knew it, she had me in a headlock, demanding that I apologise."

"I don't know where she learns this stuff," commented the first girl. "It's not like the guys here teach us how to fight. I swear, she probably teaches herself. It sounds like her."

"You mean, she knows how to fight?" asked Gohan, curious. It was the first he'd heard of that.

The first girl nodded. "I don't get why. Sonata's just weird like that. I'm kind of glad she stopped performing. I wouldn't want to share the stage with her."

"Well, we'll keep that in mind," said Videl.

"Thanks for the…information," said Gohan.

"When she comes back, I'll tell her you guys were looking for her."

But the longer they lingered there, the more they realised they weren't going to get any more information. If Sonata didn't have any friends here…it didn't look like anyone here knew the precise location of where Sonata had gone. Her father in particular didn't seem too worried. Perhaps, like Maestro, Sonata was one of those children who could run off without worrying their parents.

Like Maestro, and…like him.

So, after waving goodbye to Sonata's father, they discretely left the circus.

* * *

Once the building was safely out of sight, the two of them stopped, reflecting on what had occurred.

"…that was interesting," said Videl.

Gohan frowned. "It's not good news. Sonata's definitely gone with Maestro. Why would she, unless there was some good reason? She wouldn't understand the mechanics for the Androids. There's no point for her being there…unless she was planning to become one."

Everything was coming together, in awful fashion. Maestro had the blueprints. All he needed was a subjects. And who better to volunteer than his girlfriend? His best friend?

Why else would she have gone?

But Videl disagreed. "I'm not so sure about that. You heard what they were saying about her. She takes pride in her abilities. I don't think she'd want to be a…cyborg. For her…it'd probably be cheating. She didn't put any work to become stronger. She didn't practice, she didn't perform. All she would do is let her boyfriend stick some electronics into her."

While this was a fair point, Gohan wasn't convinced. "But she'd probably do _anything_ for Maestro."

"Probably," Videl agreed. "But I have a feeling we haven't seen everyone yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's put it this way. We have the Maestro. We have the Sonata. Now all we need are the instruments."

* * *

They stopped off at Videl's house. "If anything comes up, I'll tell you," Gohan explained to her. "If you still want to help, that is."

"Of course I want to help!" Videl exclaimed. "This is important."

She was looking at him strangely.

"…Well," she said. "I'd better go."

Videl started running towards the doors. But just before she left, she turned back and quickly added:

"Oh, and by the way? We're still not dating."

"I…I never said we were."

Videl breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Good."

And she went inside and shut the door.

Gohan simply stared at the closed doors for a while. _She just _had_ to get the last word, didn't she? _That little assignment…they had actually been enjoying themselves, and he was expecting that maybe she would have come around.

But of course it wasn't going to be that easy. When had things _ever_ been easy for him?

**[AN: Something I actually need to clarify - characters in the Dragon Ball universe don't normally have last names. Bulma is just Bulma. For Dr. Briefs, Briefs is his FIRST name. Mr. Satan is just a ring name, and his real name is Mark. Just Mark. So her name is not 'Videl Satan'. It's just Videl. Toriyama has said this in interviews, if you want to look it up. Just a fun fact for you!]**


	11. Bulma's Return to College

**[AN: This takes place at the same time as Chapter 10 - Trip to the Circus.]**

Bulma looked at her watch. _Right on time,_ she thought.

Maestro's college reminded her of the college she used to attend – a lot of spacious outdoor areas, angular buildings, and busy students, eagerly chattering as they moved from one room to the next. While it was the weekend, and most classes weren't on, many students still lingered around the large campus, presumably catching up on work.

This was where she was going to meet his professor.

Finding his office hadn't been too difficult. The college had given plenty of detailed instructions, and the room codes were relatively simple to figure out.

Staring outside the door to the office, Bulma wasn't sure what to think. She wasn't worried about letting too much information slip into the wrong hands. But, despite this, she still felt a twinge of nervousness coming through her. Even if she withheld the truth, the fact of the matter was she was coming to ask his professor whether Maestro would be prepared to create killer cyborgs. It was a question she still didn't know the answer to.

Every time she thought about Maestro, she always imagined a younger version of herself. He was a child prodigy. He was adequate with robotics. And, judging by what she had heard from his mother, he _also_ had a family that was willing to accommodate his every need.

Perhaps the question wasn't just "Would Maestro willingly build dangerous androids?", but rather "Would _she_ have done it, if she had the technology?"

At her age, she was building the Dragon Radar, without any understanding of the dangers behind it.

Without it, she would never have met Goku, but…not for the first time, Bulma wondered what life would have been like if she _hadn't _investigated the Dragon Ball the family owned.

But that was long in the past. What she had to focus on now was the present.

Bulma knocked three times, and opened the door.

Seeing the office, Bulma was hit with…almost a wave of nostalgia. There was nothing special about the place – small, cozy, and surrounded by bookshelves. A large, modern-looking clock hung on the wall in front of her. It was just like any other office for a university professor. It reminded Bulma of _her_ times at university, many years ago. Too often did she remember barging into the offices of her professors, excited to work on one idea or another, regardless of whether they related to the syllabus at all.

The professor was just sitting at his desk, reading some sort of scholarly article. At least, that was what Bulma assumed, considering its thickness and lack of variety in page layout.

Seeing Bulma, he quickly stood up and offered his hand.

"Bulma?" he asked. "From the Capsule Corporation?"

"We had an appointment," she answered formally.

Now was the time to get into business mode.

The professor nodded. "I'm Professor Locrian."

He offered a seat on the other side of his desk, which Bulma gladly took.

"So…" Bulma decided to take the first charge. "I wanted to talk to you about Maestro."

Locrian's eyes rose up.

"Maestro…" the professor started, eagerly. "_Very_ bright boy. He was probably one of the greatest students in the Engineering faculty for…at least the past 10 years. And he achieved all that at an age most would believe impossible."

"I know," Bulma replied half-heartedly. She had seen all of the files on him – the newspaper articles, the awards, the information she'd heard second-hand from Bayonet.

Locrian's eyes narrowed. "You know about him?"

"I've been doing some research," Bulma answered. "I…I've been thinking about hiring him."

It was the easiest explanation. It gave a reason as to why she cared so much. Capsule Corp normally did background checks on their employees. After all, if they accidentally saw something they weren't meant to, like Vegeta…being Vegeta…

"For Capsule Corporation?" The professor seemed impressed.

"I just wanted to know what you knew about him."

Locrian nodded, understanding.

"Well, I've known Maestro for many years, ever since he started attending this college. He was around…10 years old. So, of course, it was natural to keep a close eye on him."

Bulma gestured for him to continue.

"He's very bright, and we obviously knew he was going to go far. He could manage the workload easily, and was always eager to experiment, even outside the curriculum."

"I've heard about his achievements," Bulma commented. "In terms of academics…it's obvious he has a talent. But I've been curious…about other things. Do you know anything about Maestro that might be…significant? Anything that he was working on after he graduated, for instance?"

She didn't know if Locrian had any information about the entire Android blueprints situation. She couldn't say it out loud. Not here. Not in front of him.

Locrian frowned. "I'm afraid I don't know much about what he's been doing since then. I know he got on the tour of Capsule Corp…when was that again?"

"About 2 weeks ago," answered Bulma. "I've been looking up on him since then, but…I haven't been able to contact him."

Locrian seemed concerned. "Do you need his home address?"

Bulma shook her head. "I already have his home address. I've _visited_ his home address. But he wasn't there."

"He wasn't there?"

"Yes," Bulma continued. "That's why I wanted to ask whether you knew where he was."

Locrian scratched his head absent-mindedly. "I don't know why he wouldn't be there, but…I'm sure if you visit another time, he'll be there."

_If he had come home, his mother would have told us,_ Bulma thought.

Perhaps the professor had seen Bulma's hesitance, for he added, "It shouldn't be long. He's a bright boy. It's not like he's vanished off the face of the Earth."

"But, if you were to guess…do you know where he could have gone? He didn't give his parents any indication of where he went."

The professor frowned, in thought. "I have no idea," he said. "He would often come over to the college when he was still enrolled, when he needed more room for his work. But those were for projects purely part of the curriculum."

"Alright." Bulma thought back to what she had rehearsed to say.

"One more question," she asked. "Do you know…" Recalling the names in the address book Gohan seized for her, the address that she had gone to, and found empty. "…Percus? And Woody?"

"Percus and Woody…" Locrian mused. Then his eyes lit up. "If you had said their names individually, I doubt I would have remembered. But, together…I think I recall them."

"Do they know Maestro? I think he has connections with them."

"They were his friends here at the college," Locrian answered. "I remember them. They were a lot older than him, normal college-age students, but I recall them always shadowing him around. Always together."

"Like bodyguards?"

Locrian frowned. "Perhaps. I'm sure the relationship was more of a legitimate friendship than protection. But Maestro was a lot younger than all the other students here. Perhaps Percus and Woody felt like he needed people to protect him."

"So…are they still studying here?"

"I don't think so," Locrian answered. "If I remember correctly, they left a few years ago. They were in the same course as Maestro, but they didn't share the same brilliance. We were considering advising them to try a different course, one that they wouldn't be having academic difficulties with, but they dropped out before that came to terms."

"Oh." If they had dropped out several years ago, it was unlikely people would know or even remember them.

_And it also means that they could be entirely independent,_ Bulma thought. _They might have careers and incomes, and…a way to support Maestro with any of his schemes._

Perhaps Bulma was taking the worst possible scenario, but…with even the potential of Androids, she couldn't risk being lax.

Then Locrian stared at Bulma directly. Suddenly, his expression wasn't so carefree. There was some intelligence there, some curiosity that was making Bulma uncomfortable.

"It's time _I _asked a question," he said, eyes narrowing.

"Why do you want to find Maestro that badly?"

"I told you, I want to hire him," Bulma answered, the well-rehearsed lie coming easily off her lips. But a twinge of nerves started in her chest.

"And that's all?"

Locrian wasn't convinced.

_A half-truth,_ decided Bulma. _If that's what he needs to believe me._

"I'm worried about him," Bulma admitted.

"Worried?"

She breathed out. "He's a bright boy. I just…I'm worried about what he'll do if he's left on his own. That kind of intelligence could easily be taken advantage of. "

"And what's to say _you're_ not going to take advantage of him, too?"

"Because…I know what it's like, to lose yourself in your own ego. And I know how to bring them back."

There was silence. All Bulma could hear was the ticking of the clock above them.

"You have suspicions about him," Locrian stated. It was a fact.

Bulma nodded.

"Do you have proof to suspect him?"

The Androids flitted past Bulma's mind, the papers scattering.

17 and 18 flooded out from them, only to be replaced with something more menacing, their shadows lengthening, features disappearing until their silhouettes covered her imagination.

"That's strictly company business, Professor Locrian," she answered, trying to come back to reality.

"Company business…of course."

And that was when Bulma realised Locrian didn't believe her lie. Not at all.

"You know," he said, his voice deepening in suspiscion, "There are a lot of stories that get spread amongst the students here. Stories about your organisation."

Bulma scoffed. "They're a load of rubbish. Students love to make theories, even if there are no truths behind them."

How many times had people confronted her to ask her ridiculous questions? Whether it was a member of the media, or a random person she'd met at a party, it seemed like she could barely get her name out before the questions came out. _Is Capsule Corp really blackmailing the government? Is it true they're building explosives that can demolish cities? What about artificial experiments? And cloning?_

Sometimes, Bulma thought their theories were often less plausible than the truth. That was how life was _supposed _to work, but…Bulma used to think her life was crazier and more fantastic than anyone's imagination. The theories people came up with helped to disprove that thought.

"That may be true, but…"

Locrian's eyes were drilling deep into her, examining her for any sign of weakness. Bulma held herself stoic. She couldn't give anything away. She never could. Not even for a second.

"There are a _lot_ of these theories, you see," Locrian continued. "So many, in fact, that you'd assume at least _one_ of them has a grain of truth to them."

"If they do," Bulma replied stiffly. "If one of them is true, I'm sure it's the most logical, the most boring, and the most ordinary. For one, I can assure you we are not genetically engineering dragons."

_We're only summoning them, to wish people back to life. Out of seven mystical balls created by God, who is also an alien._

And that thought made Bulma smile.

"The most boring…that's probably true."

He paused.

"I just wanted to tell you, Ms. Bulma…the students aren't the only one spreading rumours. And they're not the only ones who get suspicious."

"I know."

And then, with that, it was as if a signal had been sent between the two of them. A silent message, that said _I understand what you're trying to tell me_.

Bulma got out from her chair.

"I should probably get going," she said. "I have a lot of work to do. Thankyou for the information."

Locrian nodded, a slight smile coming to his face. "If I have any ideas about what Maestro is up to…perhaps I'll contact your organisation. I'm sure he'll be over the moon to find out they're interested in him."

"I'm sure he will."

* * *

Once she was out of the building, Bulma suddenly realised she had been holding her breath.

_Why did he have to mention his suspicions?_

Her fists clenched, her chest tight, she walked slowly away from the campus, feelings of frustration bottled within her.

No one understood how difficult keeping a secret was.

Almost accidentally, _she_ had been the one left to keep the existence of aliens away from the rest of the world.

It had started once they arrived back from Namek. Having those Namekians holed up in the Capsule Corp building for several months…it wasn't like they were intrusive guests. They didn't even need to eat. But that was when all the hiding started. They couldn't go outside. They looked too much like Piccolo. There may have been the opportunity that someone would recognise them as kin to the monster who so briefly terrorised Earth, many years ago.

And after that…the floodgates had been open, and there was no way to escape it. It became routine that whatever the Saiyans did, Capsule Corp would be there to cover it up. From summoning Shenlong to developing their training systems…and not to mention Cell.

Everything changed for the worse then. People had _seen_ Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin, and all the rest with their own eyes. They had seen what Goku and Gohan had done first-hand.

She still needed to thank Mr. Satan for his PR spree. "They're just tricks", he told the world. And the world believed him, because _surely_ that made more sense than accepting people who could fly and shoot lasers and move faster than a camera could pick up.

But then Vegeta was staying with them, and Trunks was growing up, and…she had to keep it a secret. She could never say they weren't entirely human.

And that secret split her down the middle. Suddenly, her life had two parts to it – the Saiyan part and the human part. And those two parts could never mix. The moment one was aware of the other's existence, conflict was bound to happen. Humans could never understand aliens, and for the Saiyan part…Vegeta still didn't bother accustoming himself to Earth society. Although he _had_ seemed a little different after Majin Buu was defeated…

One day, Bulma had decided, when Trunks was older, she was going to sit him down and explain in great detail all the sacrifices she had to make for him. For _all_ of them. She had given up any illusion of an ordinary life.

And now she was constantly looking over her shoulder, just _waiting_ for someone to discover the truth. Because if that happened…she had to do everything in her power to stop the news from spreading.

It was for them. She was doing it all for _them_, and they didn't even realise. Vegeta, Trunks, Krillin and Yamcha, Gohan, Goten and Goku…

Not for the first time, Bulma wondered what would have happened if she had never found that Dragon Ball in her attic. What would have happened if she had never met Goku in the first place…

Perhaps it wouldn't have been for the best. Perhaps Goku's brother would have still arrived on Earth, and, not having a force to oppose him, would have destroyed everything.

It was times like that where Bulma realised…she could never go back. She could never even imagine what her life was like without the Saiyans. They were the only reason the Earth was still standing, after all.

Sighing, she uncapsuled her helicopter, ready to go back home.

_One day,_ she thought. _One day, I'll explain what I've done for those Saiyans. But not today._

And so she left, her mind moving to Maestro.

She didn't get any new details about his whereabouts. But she hadn't expected to.

She just hoped Gohan and Videl's lead would be more useful.

* * *

**[AN: Second Chances is not dead! If you wanted to know why there has been such a long hiatus...well, there's two reasons. The first is I've been very busy with work, and a Youtube channel about Dragon Ball that I've been managing (at MozillaVulpix! *shameless plug*).**

**The second reason is Dragon Ball Super. I wanted this story to be an in-depth look into Gohan's character arc after the Buu Saga, and I've been realising...Super might actually continue to develop his character, whether it's for the better or for the worse. Because of this, trying to actually look into Gohan's character sometimes felt a little...presumptuous of me. Like, if I keep going in this direction, I'm going to start making him seem out-of-character compared to what's happening to him in the new materials. And I didn't WANT that to happen when I started writing.**

**Unfortunately, the next chapter isn't going to come out anytime soon. I still have those prior commitments. Really, this is like a little 'bonus chapter' to assure everyone, NO, I haven't forgotten about this.**

**But perhaps soon, this story will continue. I definitely don't want to give it up. I love it too much.]**


	12. Everything is Fine

**[AN: Just so you know, Chapter 11 has had a few rewrites since I first published it. I was going to talk a little bit about Percus and Woody in that chapter, and I didn't realise I forgot about it until it was published. It's been fixed now.**

**And can I just say how _great_ it feels to be writing this again? This chapter was actually really enjoyable.]**

"And that's what happened."

Gohan stood in Bulma's office for the fourth time in over 2 weeks, explaining what had happened at the circus.

Bulma was frowning. "And Videl didn't want to come and report back?"

"Videl…was in a hurry to leave." As soon as they had flown past her place, she had decided to rush back to her house, although not before leaving that scarring remark. _Oh, and by the way? We're still not dating._ Like she had to leave it on _her_ terms. She couldn't even admit that 'that was fun' or 'it wasn't too bad'. She had to end that conversation by explaining she was still…what…upset? Mad? Either way, she didn't want to talk to him.

In the meantime, Bulma was pacing around her office.

"Maestro's gone. Percus and Woody have gone. And now Sonata has gone. It can't be a coincidence. They all know each other."

"Who's Percus and Woody?" asked Gohan blankly.

"Two of his friends from college," Bulma answered. "They're in their early twenties, and left college a few years ago. Their names were on that address book you gave me."

"Oh." Gohan sat still, not entirely sure of what to say. Then, his thoughts from the circus trip came flooding back. "Do you think they're there…to help? To help make sense of these Android blueprints? If they went to his college, surely that means they're smart."

"Not necessarily," Bulma replied. "Professor Locrian implied that they left because their grades weren't up to scratch. I doubt they'd be able to help with technology as sophisticated as that."

"Unless…"

"Unless they're not there to help comprehend it," Bulma finished, taking the words from Gohan's mouth. "Unless they're there for test subjects."

Hearing the words spoken out loud seemed to add a sense of finality to it all. The meaning those words implied spread through the air, chilling the atmosphere. If this had been before Majin Buu, before his potential had been unlocked, Gohan knew he might have shivered. Facing Androids wasn't something he would have been looking forward to, even if he knew he was stronger than them by far.

"I mean, we don't _know_ that's what they're there for," he tried to assure himself, and Bulma. "They might have just…gone on a camping trip, or something. It might not be Androids."

A small smile was on Bulma's face, but it didn't meet her eyes. "It might not be. But I don't want to take any chances. I've failed to stop Androids before. And I don't want it to happen again."

"Stop Androids?" Gohan was confused. "But you didn't fight them! _I_ didn't even fight them!"

_Except…didn't I fight Dr. Gero at some point? I think I was trying to save Piccolo. Wait…why was I trying to save Piccolo? Piccolo could have handled it. He was much stronger than me, back then._

It was getting harder and harder to remember individual battles. They had started to meld together in his long-term memory. A fight with Freeza on Namek would suddenly transition into seeing Trunks arrive from the future, on Earth. He'd be running after the Androids, only to find himself at the Cell Games.

It was just so long ago. He had been so young. No one else at school or even in his life remembered vividly what they had done when they were 5. Was he doomed to eventually forget? When he was younger, he thought he'd never forget what had happened to him. But now…he wasn't so sure.

"I'm not saying I want to stop them by fighting them," Bulma answered. "I want to stop them by finding them before they can be built. That was what I suggested everyone do with Dr. Gero, and no one listened."

"But that might have been for the best," Gohan said. Bulma was indirectly criticising his father, and it rubbed Gohan the wrong way. "If it wasn't for the Androids, Vegeta wouldn't have come on our side. Piccolo wouldn't have been who he is now. We wouldn't have Dende, and Shenlong would only grant one wish instead of two."

Bulma turned to him, fire suddenly in her eyes. "And what about _you_? If the Androids hadn't come, you could have lived a normal life much sooner! Are you saying you wouldn't have wanted that?"

Gohan could only shrug. "I've never lived a normal life, Bulma," he answered, matter-of-factly. "And if we hadn't been training, I wouldn't have been able to go beyond Super Saiyan."

"And that's a problem?"

"Well…either way…it doesn't matter what happened. It might have been hard, but that's not important. All that matters was, in the end, I was a lot stronger. That's always a good thing. It means I'm able to protect all of you, if something comes up."

Gohan was suddenly aware that Bulma was staring at him, a strange expression on her face. It reminded him a lot of his mother, back when he was very young. It was like…he had impressed her by reading a very complicated passage from a book.

Bulma could only shake her head.

"You really are your father's son."

* * *

Walking through the school gates for the start of yet another week, Gohan spied Sharpener at his locker. He went over to him, a lot less reluctantly. Knowing that Sharpener _did_ legitimately want to be friends with him had made things a lot easier. For the longest time, Gohan had been sure Sharpener had only stuck with him because of Videl.

And speaking of Videl…part of the reason why Gohan had gone straight to Sharpener was because…Videl had decided to start ignoring him again. He tried to catch her eye that morning, but she immediately buried herself in her locker. He guessed he had to 'give her some space' again.

"Hey, Son." Sharpener waved. He seemed to be acting a lot more casual in his presence, although Gohan still hadn't forgotten his admission that his friend was still scared of him.

"Videl's not speaking to me again," Gohan informed him, gloomily.

Sharpener cringed. "Again? What did you do?"

"I don't even _know_!" Gohan moaned. "It must have been…I was doing something with her over the weekend, but as soon as that was over, she decided she didn't want to even talk to me!"

Sharpener blinked. "Wait. You mean to tell me you actually got together with her? Already? That's pretty incredible."

"It is?" Gohan was still confused.

"Well, it's only been…what…a bit over a week since you broke up? Videl doesn't normally crack that quickly."

"But if she…'cracked', like you said, then…why has she decided to go back to not talking to me?"

"It's because she's ashamed," a female voice echoed behind them.

Erasa bounded up to them. "She's ashamed that she couldn't keep her distance, so now she's all embarrassed to even see you again. She gave in first, and she normally _never_ does that. She must really like you."

"How did you manage that, anyway?" asked Sharpener. And then his eyes widened. "Did you…like…did you and her-"

"Oh, my god, Sharpener!" Erasa exclaimed. "You don't just _ask_ that! And he didn't. If they _did_, Videl would have told me. For sure."

"What are you talking about?" Gohan asked, completely lost.

Erasa took one look at Gohan's innocent expression, and immediately turned beet-red. "I-It's nothing," she stammered. "Nevermind. Just…what _were_ you doing on the weekend?"

Deciding not to enquire into Erasa and Sharpener's strange behaviour any further, Gohan answered, "We went to the circus."

Erasa's eyes lit up. "Ooh! The circus! That's so cool!"

But Sharpener was frowning. "You took her on a date to the _circus_?"

"It wasn't a date!" Gohan exclaimed. "We were doing detective work!"

Erasa believed it, but Sharpener still seemed a little suspicious.

"Gosh, it's been so long since I went to the circus!" Erasa piped up, cheerily. "How long ago was the last time they were here?"

Sharpener stared, in thought. "A few years, at least," he answered. "But I know they definitely came-"

"-after the Cell Games," Gohan answered.

They both turned back to him. "Yeah," Sharpener replied. "How you know? Did you go, as well?"

"Of course not!" Gohan exclaimed. It would have been ridiculous. Going to the circus would have been like…going to the Tenkaichi Budokai, without knowing his father or Vegeta would be there. There'd be absolutely no point, because nothing would have impressed him. "And even if I _wanted_ to go, we live so far from everywhere else. There wouldn't be anyone to tell us when and where it was performing in the first place."

"Well, the circus is always fun," Erasa continued. "Maybe, one time, if it starts again, we can all go together. All 4 of us!"

"That's assuming Videl starts talking to me again," Gohan answered gloomily.

And then, as if right on cue, he saw Videl walking past them in the corridor, carrying her books. The moment she saw the first glimpse of him, she immediately turned away and quickened her pace up the stairs.

Gohan could only stare at the blank space where her back used to be.

"…I just…don't understand," he sighed.

"You don't understand girls?" Sharpener joked. "Don't worry. None of us do."

But Gohan shook his head. "No," he said. "I just don't understand _humans_."

Upon hearing that, Erasa and Sharpener exchanged concerned glances. Gohan, still staring at the empty stairs, didn't seem to notice.

* * *

"So, how did you guys die?"

They were in their literature class. The teacher had just left the room, saying she needed to get a DVD of a movie they were about to watch.

In the meantime, a boy from their class, lanky, with a pointed face and scattering of freckles, had brought up the question. It had shocked everyone into silence.

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about it," said one of the other students.

Gohan remembered it vividly. Once they had all arrived back at school, the principal had sat everyone down in the assembly hall. Everyone was tense, expecting some sort of punishment. As for Gohan…he was half-convinced that the principal had somehow found out who he was, and was going to tell the entire school. Videl had tried to assure him that wasn't the case, but he still wasn't fully convinced.

It wasn't until the principal mentioned how Majin Buu was defeated by Mr. Satan that Gohan was able to relax.

"I'm sure this has been a very…difficult experience for all of you," the principal had said, his deep voice still touched by concern. "And I know a lot of you would prefer if you could simply forget…"

_You're going to forget,_ Gohan had thought. _We're going to use the Dragon Balls and erase all of your memories._ But the balls weren't active at that point. They still weren't active now.

"And as a result, I'd prefer it if people didn't mention the events of the past few days, especially in large crowds. Many people still have traumatic experiences, and that's perfectly justified. But this school will have trouble operating if we have constant reminders of how we died. For now, it'll be best for everyone if we act like these most recent events didn't happen."

It had become a blanket ban. It hadn't been strictly enforced, but the students still listened to it. Or at least, they _had_.

It had been 2 months. Perhaps everyone had truly gotten accustomed to thinking about it as part of ordinary life.

"Well, Miss isn't here, is she?" The student continued. "I'm just curious how you all died. You _did_ all die, didn't you?"

There was a scattering of murmurs, before Videl, sitting two seats away from him, like always, decided to contribute to the conversation. "Everyone died," she said softly. "Majin Buu didn't spare anyone."

"Well, except your dad," added someone else.

"I-" Videl started to protest, but seemed to decide against it.

"I'll start," said the first student. "I died after the first broadcast. We were in the city next to them. As soon as we saw what they did, we tried to run. It turns out Buu was coming after us next. I think I was blown up."

"I was blown up, too!" added one of the guys.

"I wasn't blown up," said a girl. "I was turned into candy."

"Me, too! I was in that first city! I heard a voice saying they were going to destroy it, and they did!"

And then everyone started to raise their voices, discussing their own deaths.

In the meantime, Gohan sat in silence, mulling over how strange the situation was.

For _him_, discussing death didn't have the same stigma that normal humans seemed to associate with it. When dying could be easily reversed by a magical wish-granting dragon, his family often treated death in the same way they treated vacations. "I was just dead. It was no big deal." His father, especially, had no problem with it. For him, dying hadn't only been inconsequential, it had been _beneficial._ The first time he had died, he had managed to visit Kaio-sama, and learnt the Kaio-ken and the Genki Dama. The second time…that was part of the reason he had been able to achieve Super Saiyan 3. Both times, dying had probably been for the _best_.

But after a few minutes, the first student seemed to notice Gohan's silence.

"Hey, Gohan," he asked, with, for some reason, a grin plastered on his face. "How did_ you_ die? Did The Great Saiyaman stand a chance against that monster?"

"Well…" Gohan had actually been thinking it over. He actually wanted to answer the question. Everyone else had been doing it, so why wouldn't he? He didn't want to be left out. But he couldn't be entirely _truthful. I died in the explosion when Majin Buu destroyed the Earth._ Then he'd have to explain why the Earth was still standing, and he'd have to go into Porunga, and Namek, and Kaioshin, and then they'd probably think he was _really_ crazy.

The easiest thing was to just explain it as close to the truth as possible.

"We were in a rough spot," he explained. "Majin Buu had found my brother and my family friend, defenceless. He was probably going to kill them. I was getting all overconfident and I stepped in, positive that I could protect them."

The moment came to Gohan's mind, as vivid as ever.

Bolstered by the power the Elder Kai's ritual had given him, he had slowly stepped up to Majin Buu, filled with a confidence that he had never experienced before.

_So, you want to fight me? _The monster had asked, a grin still on its face.

_Fight you? _Gohan had replied, starting to smirk. _No, I want to kill you._

"But even then it was stupid," Gohan continued, his voice steadily rising. "What was I even trying to do? Stop Majin Buu? Like _that _was going to happen!"

And then everything started spiralling out, the classroom seeming to fade before his eyes. All he could think about was his failures, and his presumptions, and his…his stupidity!

Why had he even attempted to fight Majin Buu in the first place? Surely he knew, deep down, he wouldn't be able to do anything. He had never been able to do anything! He wasn't his father!

_You really are your father's son_, Bulma's words echoed through his mind.

_But you're wrong, Bulma!_ He thought. _If I really was my father's son, I would have been able to stop Majin Buu then and there! I wouldn't have failed! Because my father never fails!_

And then his voice came back to him, almost surprising him.

His voice growing louder, he kept talking, continuing on, reaching a crescendo,

"Because…when was the last time I _ever_ did something useful in my _life_ without-"

**"Gohan!" **

A voice, a high voice close to him yelled, cutting into his mind like a razor.

Instantly turning to its source, Gohan realised it was Videl. And she was staring at him with…concern, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open in shock, her expression paused, like she had been holding her breath.

And then, when Gohan looked down to his desk, he realised his fists were clenched. And shaking.

He stared at his hands, the shaking steadily stopping under his gaze.

What had he been doing? Why had that happened? Why had he suddenly felt so…angry?

But now that he was suddenly aware of himself, Gohan's high emotions seemed to fade away instantly.

"So, basically, I tried and failed. And Majin Buu…yeah, he killed me."

The class was suddenly silent. Everyone in the room was staring at him with a mixture of emotions. Some seemed sympathetic. Others were looking with pity. But there were other expressions – expressions that he didn't fully understand.

The questioner hesitated, trying to break the awkward silence. "Uh…so…does anyone else want-"

But then he abruptly stopped. The teacher had just come back into the classroom.

She looked suspiciously at the surprise silence the class was in. Had she figured out what they had been talking about?

Fortunately, she dismissed it. "I've got the video," she said. "Now, let's continue the lesson."

As the video started, Sharpener cautiously leaned up to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Gohan answered automatically. Now that he knew what he was doing, that sudden anger had abated almost instantly. It was completely gone. And, in fact, he didn't even know how it had come about in the first place. Now, when he started thinking about Majin Buu again, even when he started to think the same thoughts, that sudden anger never came.

Clearly, it was a one-time thing.

* * *

Once the lesson was over, and Gohan was walking out of the classroom, he received an unexpected interruption.

"Uh…Gohan?" An unfamiliar voice rang out through the halls.

Gohan turned around. It was one of the guys in their literature class. He couldn't remember his name. There was just too many people in different classes. He didn't remember everyone, yet.

"Um…hi," Gohan said, a little confused. What did this guy want?

His classmate looked at him, hesitating. But then he blurted out, "I just wanted to say…it was really brave. What you did."

"Huh?" That was the last thing he was expecting.

"What you did," the boy clarified. "You knew you didn't have a chance, but you still jumped in there to save your brother. That…that takes _guts_, man. When Majin Buu found me, we were running away. I bet if Buu was going to kill my little sister…I wouldn't be brave enough to step in. I'd probably run away and save myself."

"But…" Gohan wanted to object. _But I thought I had a chance,_ he was going to say. _It wasn't bravery. It was almost the opposite. I only faced him because I knew I was stronger than him._

But the classmate had misread Gohan's hesitation. "Hey, I know it may not have meant anything in the end, but…sometimes, in a time like that, when we're all going to die, anyway…it's the thought that counts. I wish I had half the courage you had."

"Well…" Gohan realised there was no point in arguing. "Thankyou, I guess."

The classmate shook his head in disbelief. "I just don't know how you did it. I need to thank you. For at least _trying_ to help."

But, as Gohan watched his back as he left, all he could think was, _I don't know if I deserve your thanks._

It had been such an unusual comment. So out-of-the-blue. Had something triggered it?

He started walking away from the classroom, only to pass Videl and Erasa. When their eyes met, Videl still looked concerned.

This time, Gohan dismissed it. He was fine. He might have lost control a _little_ bit when he started thinking about Majin Buu, but…he was still fine. He hadn't _completely_ lost it. That would never happen. It hadn't happened for years. And the last thing he needed was for everyone to treat him like he was young and emotionally vulnerable again. It had been 7 years since Cell. He was almost a grown adult now.

He was fine. He was _absolutely_ fine.

…right?

**[AN: Unfortunately, this story still isn't getting a strict update schedule. I've gotten past one hurdle, but I've got a few more to go before it's clear sailing until the end.]**


End file.
